A state of emergency was declared in the region of the town of Port-Cartier, Quebec, on Friday June 21, leading to the evacuation of several hundred residents.
Hundreds of people, including 225 inmates from a high-security prison, have been evacuated due to forest fires in Canada, authorities announced this Sunday, June 23, at the start of the summer fire season.
Fires hit the country hard in 2023 from east to west, burning more than 15 million hectares. They cost the lives of eight firefighters and pushed the authorities to evacuate more than 235,000 people.
225 inmates of a high security prison
The federal penitentiary center of Port-Cartier, located approximately 500 kilometers northeast of Quebec City, was evacuated along with a thousand residents over the weekend.
The prison was closed and the inmates “were transferred from the affected area to other secure federal penitentiary establishments,” said Anne Kelly, head of the Canadian Prison Service, quoted in a press release.
The prison has housed some of the country’s most notorious convicts, including several serial killers.
Further north, 750 employees working on a hydroelectric dam in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador were also displaced. The plant provides electricity to several regions.
