Forest fires: Abitibi-Témiscamingue prays for rain

All eyes are on Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which has become the most affected region in Quebec by the forest fires which forced the evacuation of thousands of people and where rain is not expected before… Saturday. The worst could be yet to come.

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“Never in 26 years have I seen so many people evacuated because of forest fires. Of course that worries us, we have never seen that in our city, but we are hanging on, ”launches the Log Céline Brindamour, Mayor of Val-D’Or.

This small town of about 33,000 people has become a haven for more than 700 people over the past few days. Most of them, who are mainly residents of an Aboriginal community in Lac-Simon, had to flee their homes in the middle of the night to get to Val-D’Or this weekend.

“We didn’t even have time to question ourselves. We had to help them. We haven’t stopped since Friday evening, ”explains M^me Brindamour, who is crossing his fingers for rain in the coming days.

twenty fires

According to the Society for the Protection of Forests against Fire (SOPFEU), 20 fires were still active on Monday in the greater Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.

“Of course the fact that there is no rain forecast before Saturday, which is the end of the week, can be a factor that we will have to consider and which will not help,” explains Mélanie. Morin, SOPFEU prevention and communications officer.

According to the latter, the municipality of Normetal, a village of less than 800 souls near Ontario, has become the priority of their organization in the last few hours, due to the fires nearby.

All the citizens of this region were also forced to evacuate their homes this weekend.

“An emergency reception center has also been set up at the Cité universitaire Polyno de La Sarre for them,” the authorities confirmed.

Several states of emergency

Note that other cities remain on the alert because of these fires which are far from having finished ravaging the forests of Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

The Municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon carried out the preventive evacuation of 2,000 residents.

In Senneterre, the authorities have declared a state of emergency due to the quality of the air and the proximity of a fire.

The City of Val-D’Or, for its part, also requested the evacuation of the areas of Louvicourt, Lake Wyeth, Lake Guéguen, Lake Matchi-Manitou and Lake Villebon.