The “status quo remains” in Sept-Îles, where the forest fires that broke out on Friday in this North Shore city are still “out of control”, but have not progressed significantly. No evacuation is planned “in the very short term”, said the minister responsible for the North Shore, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, during a morning press briefing.
The temperatures and the winds were favorable to the work of the firefighters of the Society for the Protection of Forests against Fire (SOPFEU), spokesperson Isabelle Gariépy said. Mayor Steeve Beaupré “hopes that Mother Nature will be in our favor in the coming days”.
The inhabitants of the Sainte-Famille sector must however remain on “pre-alert” and “be ready” for a possible evacuation according to the evolution of the situation.
Friday’s evacuation of residents of Moisie, Les Plages and Lac Daigle “went well,” Beaupré said. However, the 10,000 people who had to leave their homes cannot yet return to their homes.
Some 1,500 members of the Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam (ITUM) Innu community were also “invited to evacuate the area”, indicated ITUM representative Jean-Claude Therrien-Pinette, calling on them to “stay at a safe distance from the community “.
Responding to the request for reinforcements made the day before by the Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel, a hundred soldiers will arrive on Saturday in Sept-Îles, said the minister responsible for the North Shore, Kateri Champagne Jourdain. “Another hundred are coming tomorrow. »
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