Quebec has repatriated all its firefighters to deal with the major forest fires that are raging, while 10,000 people had to be evacuated to Sept-Îles. Authorities are hoping lower temperatures and rain will help improve the situation.
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“We repatriated all the staff of SOPFEU. Nearly 400 people are on the ground. There were some who were outside Quebec, so we repatriated our planes, they are on the ground too, ”declared the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, in the corridors of parliament Friday morning.
There are currently 107 forest fires in Quebec, according to the minister. “We are currently working on 20 of these fires to protect the population and our Hydro-Quebec infrastructure,” he said.
- Listen to the interview with Josée Poitras, Prevention and Communications Officer at SOPFEU, on Philippe-Vincent Foisy’s show broadcast via QUB-radio:
In addition to repatriating all of its personnel, the government has the support of the armed forces, and it has requested assistance from abroad. “We called on allied countries with whom we have agreements, in particular the United States, Mexico, Portugal. We are waiting for feedback from them,” said the Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina.
In the meantime, authorities are hoping cooler weather and rain will help reduce the intensity of the fires.
“We expect 20 degrees, 18 degrees, rain anyway this morning. We cross our fingers so that it goes down and that we can find a little peace and serenity for these people who have been evacuated, ”said Mr. Bonnardel.
For its part, the federal government assures that Quebec has a “robust” system to fight forest fires, but says it is ready to help if the situation gets out of hand, even if it means asking for help from abroad.
“It’s still in interim mode at this point,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Friday.
“We do not have a situation that exceeds Quebec’s ability to respond, but we are anticipating. We have to be ready in case it gets serious.”
Evacuations
According to Minister Bonnardel, 10,000 people had to be evacuated to Sept-Îles, where a state of emergency was declared. Nearly 1,000 people were also forced to leave their homes in the village of Chapais.
“There are accommodation centers that are open,” replied Minister Bonnardel when asked where the people concerned will go. “We invite the population to go to the family. It’s not easy, it’s still a lot of people, “he said. There would be between 2000 and 3000 people who would need accommodation at the present time.
In addition to the evacuations, the forest fires also caused problems for Hydro-Québec, underlined the Prime Minister François Legault, who said he was worried about the situation.
“Yesterday, the fires triggered a system at Hydro-Quebec which meant that there were 250,000 homes without electricity. There, we are at 5000 this morning,” he said.
Prohibited access to forests in certain regions
In addition, access to forests will be prohibited to citizens in seven regions until further notice, the government has decided.
“I signed a ministerial order to close public areas, certain roads in seven areas, because the situation is worrying and we want to ensure the safety of citizens,” said Minister Blanchette Vézina.
The sectors targeted by the ban are located on the North Shore, in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, in northern Quebec, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, in the Laurentians and in Lanaudière.
The municipalities affected by the ban
Abitibi and Northern Quebec
Abitibi, La Vallée-de-l’Or, Jamésie
Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Laurentians and Lanaudière
La Tuque, Gatineau Valley, Matawinie, Antoine-Labelle
Northern Quebec and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Le Domaine-du-Roy, Maria-Chapdelaine, Oujé-Bougoumou, Lac-Saint-Jean-Est, Le Fjord-du-Saguenay
North Coast
The Upper North Shore, Manicouagan, Sept-Rivières, Minganie
–With the collaboration of Raphaël Pirro