In Lebel-sur-Quévillon, the two most threatening forest fires did not come closer to the city, announced Mayor Guy Lafrenière. “The information this morning is better than yesterday,” he announced in a cautious tone on Tuesday. The 2,000 residents have not received permission to return to their homes.
“The fire came to a place where there are no trees, so it slowed down considerably,” explained Mr. Lafrenière. The blaze, which is 10 km from the city, should soon arrive in front of a lake, he added.
“SOPFEU’s strategy is not to put out the fire, but to turn it to the left so that it joins another fire. And [les pompiers] are very optimistic this morning, with the low temperature that we had last night and that we will have next night, ”explained Mr. Lafrenière to the citizens who evacuated the city last Friday.
Tankers from Roberval will take the direction of Lebel-sur-Quévillon on Tuesday to provide reinforcements to firefighters and the city. Since the start of the forest fires, Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Normétal, another municipality in Abitibi, have shared the devices. However, the situation is also deemed to be critical at Normetal.
Public Security Minister François Bonnardel will travel to Abitibi on Tuesday, more specifically to Val-d’Or, where he will provide an update on the province’s forest fires. As of 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, 152 fires were active in Quebec.
Prime Minister François Legault went to Sept-Îles where residents were able to return to their homes. They had been evacuated on Friday.