Smoke from forest fires caused a major power outage in Abitibi-Témiscamingue on Friday. In this sector, more than 75,000 people are without power at the end of the afternoon – out of a total of 83,500 customers for the region.
The smoke that emerges from the dozens of forest fires raging in Quebec is responsible for triggering a mechanism to protect Hydro-Quebec equipment, explains Philippe Archambault, head of media relations for the company. ‘State.
This type of breakdown generally affects a large number of households, he underlines. Hydro-Québec’s equipment is not damaged and the teams are already working to restore power remotely.
This operation should take a few hours, he adds.
Customers in the Abitibi, Abitibi-Ouest, Vallée-de-l’Or and Rouyn-Noranda sectors are the most affected by the outage. In Témiscamingue, in the southwest of the region, some 2,500 households are also affected.
New evacuations in Abitibi
The forest fires also caused the evacuation of certain sectors of Senneterre, an Abitibi town located south of Lebel-sur-Quévillon on Friday. Residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, for their part, had to leave their homes for the second time in a month on Thursday.