Volunteer firefighters battled the flames that were ravaging boats on the Grande-Entrée wharf in the Magdalen Islands for several hours early Sunday morning. In total, five fishing boats were lost.
“For fishermen, a boat is more than a work tool, it is practically a member of the family,” said the mayor of the municipality, Antonin Valiquette, in a message published on social networks.
The circumstances of the fire are not yet known.
The mayor added that much work would still be needed to “control the oil pollution, recover the wrecks, inspect the wharf affected by the fire and continue fishing operations for the last week of the season.”
More details will follow.