The weather situation complicates the battle against forest fires. The lack of rain, combined with high temperatures – and even very high, according to forecasts for the next few days – breathed new vigor into the fires raging in Quebec on Thursday, to the point of forcing Lebel-sur-Quévillon to evacuation for the second time in less than a month.
In the middle of the afternoon, the mayor of the locality of Jamésie, Guy Lafrenière, again ordered residents to leave their homes. “Unfortunately Route 113 is now blocked by fire,” the elected official posted on Facebook. For this reason, Civil Security strongly recommends the total and complete evacuation of the city. The 2,180 Quévillonnais had until 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening to leave.
The day before, the fire had managed to span Route 113 for the first time, but the firefighters had quickly managed to extinguish the breakaway. In the morning Thursday, the wind seemed to play in favor of the locality, moving the flames away from the 113. The absence of rain and the heat, however, fueled the blaze, thwarting hasty optimism.
“We have to leave [les lieux], and this, for a few days, warned Guy Lafrenière. It takes absolutely, absolutely rain for us to get home. »
However, the rain is expected to be absent until Monday or Tuesday in the area. Environment Canada, meanwhile, predicts the mercury will rise over the next few days. Faced with this generosity of nature, several fires take the opportunity to find a second wind and thwart the firefighters.
Two new fires broke out between Wednesday and Thursday, bringing their number to 104, said the Society for the Protection of Forests against Fire (SOPFEU). Among them, 80 are in an intensive protection zone, i.e. the southern part of Quebec’s territory, where most of the population is concentrated.
“Several out-of-control fires will see their rate of spread increase, warns SOPFEU. Moreover, four contained fires have once again become out of control since the beginning of the week. »
We are forced to leave [les lieux], for a few days. It takes absolutely, absolutely rain for us to get home.
Some blazes are “significantly progressing”, the company adds, and the risk of seeing others hatch is “also significant”, according to it.
In all, 1,476 people are taking part in the war effort against forest fires, of which 1,316 are active directly in the field. The situation requisitioned 21 tanker planes and 78 helicopters and mobilized reinforcements not only from Europe and the United States, but also from other Canadian provinces and the ranks of the army.
Chibougamau in the smoke
Around Chibougamau, two uncontrolled fires still mobilize more than 160 firefighters. SOPFEU is continuing the development of a heliport that will facilitate the fight against fire 379, which on Wednesday required ground and aerial watering operations, and the construction of a stop line to protect a Hydro station. -Quebec. The efforts made on Wednesday had succeeded in slowing the advance of the blaze: the City of Chibougamau indicated on Thursday that the fire had not “progressed significantly” since the day before.
If the Chibougamois could not see these fires still located several tens of kilometers from their city, they could certainly smell them. A thick cloud enveloped the municipality of Jamésie on Thursday, due to a phenomenon called “temperature inversion”. The latter ensures that the cold air is trapped under a ceiling of warm air, which prevents the dispersion of smoke in the atmosphere.
Air quality was affected: at noon, the concentration of fine particles was 43 micrograms per cubic meter, i.e. a concentration 8.5 times higher than the annual guideline value of the World Health Organization. health.
At Normetal, fire 281 once again escaped the control of the sappers, after 11 days of relative calm. SOPFEU assured that the flames did not threaten any community at the moment; however, she is concerned that the wind will favor the spread of the blaze towards the northeast and the Val-Paradis sector. The machinery was busy creating firebreaks on the outskirts of the locality “to better protect it as the fire approaches”.