Even if “the fire is progressing little” for the moment, the mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon implores his fellow citizens back home to respect the rules and avoid going into the forest. The flammability index remains “very high” in several regions, when 80 additional American firefighters will join the fight effort north of Baie-Comeau.
“The fire is progressing little, the wind being weak, that gives us a chance”, summed up the mayor Guy Lafrenière, Monday, in a press briefing. “Their strategy seems to be effective. The fire behaves according to their predictions. The fire is 330,000 hectares now,” added the elected official, who had just spoken with SOPFEU.
On Sunday, more than 1,000 residents returned home, with many more expected on Monday. His administration will closely monitor the flammability index this week “which remains very high and which will continue to increase day by day”, reiterated Mr. Lafrenière.
Rain is expected next weekend, but until then the sun and warm temperatures are likely to make it difficult for firefighters. “The return went very well, but caution is required and we ask that you follow the instructions. If someone sets open fires or fireworks, the fine is now $1,000 plus all administration costs,” he said.
Given the low precipitation of the last few days and the little rain expected in the coming days, the ban on access to the forest and the closure of forest roads were reinstated on Monday in the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Mauricie, Nord-du-Québec, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord.
Like the day before, Guy Lafrenière warned “that we must be ready in the event of new evacuations”. “It’s worth preparing, and if we don’t evacuate, so much the better, but we have to be ready,” he insisted, addressing the residents. “Route 113 is now open, but we ask you not to drive for nothing either. If ever the fire were to stick more to the road, we will notify you, ”added the mayor.
He recalled that in addition to the compensation of $1,500 offered by the government for the evacuees, the City “is presently making representations to the Ministry of Public Security for additional financial assistance to help the citizens of Lebel- sur-Quévillon who were evacuated for 17 days”.
Americans in Micoua
Eighty American firefighters will also join the international reinforcements at SOPFEU on Monday evening to fight forest fires. They will be sent to the Micoua sector, north of Baie-Comeau, where four fires totaling more than 10,000 hectares are still raging.
The arrival of these forest firefighters is scheduled around 5 p.m. at the Quebec City airport. “They are going to fight a complex of fires that we find there, so fires 283, 424, 375 and 270. We are talking about a fire of 3000 hectares under control, a fire of 9300 hectares contained, a fire of 158 hectares controlled and another 1883 hectares contained,” explains SOPFEU spokesperson Stéphane Caron.
These new reinforcements are added to the strike force already in place in northern Quebec, with more than 200 soldiers from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in the first place. There are also more than 50 firefighters and specialists from New Brunswick at Normétal, some 100 French forest firefighters at Obedjiwan, as well as the hundred Americans and the 140 Portuguese already in place at Lebel-sur-Quévillon. A hundred Spanish firefighters are also still active in Chibougamau.
SOPFEU has approximately 240 forest firefighters in addition to a growing number of “auxiliary fighters on call”. The total number of staff in the organization therefore currently varies between 400 and 500 people on a daily basis.