PORT-CARTIER | Despite the fact that the forest fires near the municipality are heading further north, the evacuation notice for certain sectors and the state of emergency are maintained in Port-Cartier, on the North Shore.
This is what the mayor confirmed during a press briefing on the state of the situation on Sunday, early in the afternoon. He also says he has a thought for those who had to spend a second night away from their home.
“These are not decisions that are always popular, but on the other hand, for the health and safety of our citizens it is extremely important,” explained Alain Thibault.
“We ask you to be patient. I know you can’t wait to get home, we won’t take any decision lightly. When we allow you to do so, we will be sure that there will no longer be any threat,” he added.
A little relief for the latter, the minister responsible for the Côte-Nord region, Kateri Champagne Jourdain took the opportunity to officially announce the reactivation of the financial aid program for evacuees and requested municipalities. As was the case last year, victims will be able to make a claim of $1,500 per household affected by the evacuation notice.
During his visit on Sunday, The newspaper was able to observe that residents of the evacuated areas were lining up to come and collect personal effects, which was granted to them, provided they did so quickly and each in turn.
As expected, but…
Even though there has still been no rain, the prevention and communications agent at SOPFEU, Mélanie Morin, provided a relatively positive update, emphasizing that the weather conditions today and yesterday were much more favorable than those of Friday.
“Since yesterday we have had lighter winds, rather southerly and a little more humidity in the air, which means that the fires are still active, especially in the middle of the day when we can see good plumes of smoke, but fortunately, the fires are not progressing towards the south,” she said.
She also stressed that as of this evening, 172 forest firefighters, auxiliary fighters, managers and support staff will be assigned to the management of these fires which are still considered out of control.
To this, you can add 12 helicopters which support operations as well as 9 air tankers deployed throughout the North Shore.
Air quality
The municipality wanted to emphasize that poor air quality will be “the main issue for the coming hours”. She therefore recommends following public health instructions.
Citizens are also invited to avoid excessive water consumption.
In addition, both elected officials and the SOPFEU representative were keen to point out that it is still prohibited to light open fires and fireworks despite the National Day festivities.
