Forest fires continue to cause damage and headaches throughout Quebec. Residents of the Lac-Simon Aboriginal community joined the thousands of other evacuees in the province on Saturday morning. And the situation is still worrying in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, where a fire threatens the municipality.
Posted at 9:32
Updated at 1:37 p.m.
The chief of Lac-Simon, Lucien Wabanonik, issued an evacuation notice Saturday morning for all residents of Lac-Simon, an Aboriginal community located in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, due to smoke from the fires.
Toxic air and smoke are the main cause of the evacuation, he wrote on Facebook. Already, Friday evening, Mr. Wabanonik indicated on his account that the hotels of Val-d’Or were full and that priority had been given to seniors and sick people.
The head of the community asks the members to prepare a stay of at least two days, to bring the essentials and to think of medicines.
A little later in the day, the CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue recommended that residents of the MRCs of Vallée-de-l’Or and Abitibi confine themselves to avoid smoke.
Lebel-sur-Quévillon in the path of fire
650 kilometers north of Montreal, the municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon in Jamésie is still at risk on Saturday morning. The place has been almost deserted since the mandatory evacuation of all citizens on Friday evening. “The fire progressed during the night as warned, explained Mélanie Morin, spokesperson for SOPFEU for Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The fire is said to have occurred near the Nordic Kraft factory. With the easterly winds shifting today, the winds are pushing the fire towards the community and towards Highway 113.”
PHOTO FROM ANIK BOUDREAULT’S FACEBOOK PAGE
A plane flying over Lebel-sur-Quévillon
Twenty forest firefighters are hard at work creating a firebreak between Lake Quévillon and Route 113 to protect the municipality, she said. Two air tankers also water the fire. Sprinklers are installed at the Nordic Kraft plant to prevent the fire from affecting the substances stored there.
“It remains worrying,” said the mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon at a press conference at the start of the afternoon. He thanked the population for their cooperation during the evacuations. A little earlier, he had told The Press about twenty residents still refused to leave the municipality. “We are on these cases, we try to convince them to leave today, he says. It’s not much. The first 2,000 evacuees went really well yesterday. »
Chapais residents reinstated
Meanwhile, residents of Chapais applauded Mayor Isabelle Lessard when she announced Saturday morning at a press conference that they could go home.
About half of the inhabitants of the municipality have been evacuated since Wednesday evening. The night was favorable to Chapais, indicated Mme Lessard. Work to block the lights — a mechanized stop line — was nearing completion Saturday morning.
The number of fires in the province began to decline by midday Saturday, after rising rapidly in recent days. After reaching a peak of 144 active fires identified by SOPFEU on Saturday morning, this number had dropped to 142 around 3 p.m.
“I would like to wholeheartedly thank the hard work of all those involved in the last few days,” tweeted Public Security Minister François Bonnardel on Saturday. Our priority for all is the safety of Quebecers and we will do everything necessary to achieve this. »
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