Following a rather early start to the season in March, the month of April was slightly above average for the teams of the Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU). During the last month, the protection organization recorded 52 vegetation fires affecting 45.8 hectares (ha) of forest, while the average for the last ten years is 42.4 fires for an area of 27.2 ha burned. Note also that all of the fires recorded this year were caused by human activity.
Despite the precipitation received in the form of rain or snow during the month of April, this water supply was distributed irregularly during the month of April. This led to periods of drying out of the vegetation in different areas, which favored the outbreak of several fires.
It should be noted that the fires of the last month occurred almost everywhere in the territory. If in the spring the majority of fires generally occur further south in the province, regions further north such as Abitibi, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie were not completely spared during the month of April. This is explained by the early disappearance of the snow cover across the entire territory.
Burning waste more dangerous than it seems
This year again, the burning of plant waste carried out during the spring cleaning of the grounds is responsible for several fires. Of the 52 fires recorded in April, 23 are associated with this type of burning, or 44%. SOPFEU notes that many citizens underestimate the risk associated with burning waste. The protection organization instead recommends safe and ecological alternatives, such as composting, the collection of green waste and the deposit of residual materials at the ecocenter.
Let’s avoid avoidable fires
As mentioned in the advertising campaign launched at the beginning of last week, SOPFEU invites the population to be extra vigilant in the days and weeks to come in order to “avoid avoidable fires”. She recalls that spring is a very favorable period for the outbreak of vegetation fires due to the presence of dry brush and dead plants, which are highly flammable. She also highlights that the month of May is one of the months with the highest number of fires during the year.
