With 132 active forest fires in Quebec, it becomes “impossible” for the Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU) to “systematically fight all fires”, she declared on her Facebook page on Saturday afternoon. .
While waiting for reinforcements from the Canadian army and from abroad, SOPFEU must now prioritize its interventions according to the issues of “protection of human lives” and “energy infrastructures”, such as Hydro-Québec lines. It will then focus on “25 to 27 priority fires”.
The situation is “critical”, Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said on Saturday afternoon. Nearly 40,000 people are evacuated to Canada, including 14,000 in Quebec, according to figures from Friday evening.
Thus, 200 soldiers will be deployed as reinforcements by Sunday, mainly on the North Shore. They will be “accelerated training […] in the coming days” to fight the fires, said SOPFEU.
But to deal with “the magnitude of the situation” across Quebec, SOPFEU is also awaiting the arrival of reinforcements “within 7 to 8 days” of firefighters from countries with which Canada has an agreement – United States, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand —, indicated to the Duty SOPFEU’s prevention and communications coordinator, Stéphane Caron.
“Despite the omnipresent smoke”, the fires in Sept-Îles have “stopped their progress towards the communities” thanks to cooler temperatures and a change in the direction of the winds. The fires near this municipality on the North Shore, however, remain “out of control”.
The situation also calmed down on Saturday in Chapais, in Jamésie, where the evacuation notice which affected 800 people was lifted.
But just over 200 kilometers away, the municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, evacuated Friday evening, is still threatened by a fire extending over nearly 110,000 hectares. “The situation remains worrying”, wrote SOPFEU, even if the wind pushes the flames “slightly away from the municipality”.
Residents of Lac-Simon, an Aboriginal community located in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, also received an evacuation notice in the morning, this time mainly due to the toxicity of the air and smoke.
Community leader Lucien Wabanonik asked residents to prepare to leave for “at least two days”.
On Friday, the CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue advised residents of the region to confine themselves due to poor air quality, at least until Sunday.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has also issued special air quality bulletins across Quebec and smog warnings.