(Montreal) Some 127 forest fires remain active in Quebec Thursday morning and their smoke should cover a large part of the province during the day.
Environment Canada issued smog warnings for several areas of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the Laurentians and the Outaouais early Tuesday. The poor air quality is due to high concentrations of fine particles due to forest fires, the agency said.
The smoke should then reach the St. Lawrence Valley and Montreal in the morning. The whole of Quebec could feel it in the middle of the day, but the metropolitan region, Lanaudière and Mauricie will be the most affected, according to the FireSmoke forecasting tool.
“Smog mainly affects children with asthma and people with respiratory or heart disease. It is therefore recommended that they avoid intense physical activity outdoors until the smog warning is lifted,” recalls Environment Canada.
Although several fires have been brought under control, including the one near Fermont which broke out in the last few days, others continue to rage. This is particularly the case for those near Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Mistissini, in Nord-du-Québec.
The approximately 2,000 residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon remain evacuated. The Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU) estimated on Wednesday that between 300,000 and 350,000 hectares are in flames around the city.
In total, nearly 1.3 million hectares of forest have been affected by the fires this year. This is 400 times more than the annual average of the last 10 years.
Passing through Saguenay on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured that Canada can count on reinforcements from foreign firefighters for the summer.
A total of 1,200 fire fighters are at work in Quebec and, among them, are New Brunswickers, French, Americans, Portuguese and Spaniards in particular.
The Quebec Ministry of Public Security and SOPFEU are to take stock of the state of the forest fire situation around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.