Evacuations are still underway in a few municipalities due to the forest fires raging on the North Shore and in Nord-du-Québec.
• Read also: Evacuation of Chapais: dozens of campers landed in the middle of the night
• Read also: Forest fires in Sept-Îles: an “out of control and unpredictable” blaze
• Read also: Lebel-sur-Quévillon: thousands more citizens evacuated
In Lebel-sur-Quévillon, 150 km north of Val-d’Or, the 2,000 residents of the municipality received a mandatory evacuation notice late Friday.
Saturday morning, the Municipality mentioned on its Facebook page that the fire had since slowed down.
“He remains a threat to the municipality; There is an extreme presence of smoke throughout the territory of the municipality, ”we mention however.
“Even the greatest fighting force would not be able to stem this fire. We go there more to protect the community, ”says SOPFEU spokesperson Stéphane Caron.
Emergency centers have been opened in Senneterre and Val-d’Or to receive the population.
The Council of the Anishnabe Nation of Lac-Simon also ordered a total evacuation of the community on Saturday morning.
Still evacuated to Sept-Îles
Residents of Sept-Îles who live east of downtown are still being evacuated Saturday morning, 24 hours after the evacuation order.
Accommodation sites have been set up in Port-Cartier, Baie-Comeau and Forestville to accommodate these people.
More than 70 firefighters are currently on the scene to secure municipal infrastructure.
“There was not much activity overnight. Currently, we expect it to be fairly quiet today, ”mentioned Isabelle Gariépy of SOPFEU in a press briefing on Saturday morning.
Maliotenam, located near Sept-Îles, also evacuated its 1,500 inhabitants.
A hundred soldiers will arrive on the North Shore on Saturday, and another hundred will arrive on Sunday.
The Minister of Civil Protection, Bill Blair, officially approved Quebec’s request to receive members of the Canadian Armed Forces as reinforcements.
“THE [Forces armées] provide firefighting resources and help plan and coordinate wildfire response in the province,” Blair tweeted.
Evacuees will return home
The 800 residents of the Chapais sectors, near Chibougamau, who had been evacuated Thursday evening will be able to return to their homes at noon on Saturday, the City announced.
“However, vigilance and caution are always in order: we reiterate THE BAN on traveling in the forest, by any means whatsoever, and on making open fires,” it says.
Closed forests
According to the most recent data from SOPFEU, 136 fires are still active in Quebec, 100 of which are out of control. Only two fires have broken out in the past 12 hours.
“We are working more specifically on around twenty fires. With this number of fires, it is impossible for SOPFEU to attack them all simultaneously. There is a prioritization made according to human lives, then strategic infrastructures”, specifies Stéphane Caron.
The ban on open fires is maintained everywhere in Quebec. Public forests are also closed until further notice in several regions, including the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Mauricie.