140 active forest fires in Quebec, several sectors of Val-d’Or evacuated

Nearly 140 forest fires remain active in Quebec, two-thirds of which are out of control. Threatened by fire, new communities were evacuated on Saturday. Elsewhere, residents have been allowed to return to their homes. Overview of the regions affected by the fires.

Val d’Or

The city of Val-d’Or declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening. Two “out of control” fires forced the evacuation of the sectors of Louvicourt, Lake Wyeth, Lake Gueguen, Lake Matchi-Manitou and Lake Villebon.

“Due to the existing dangers, people in the mentioned sectors must evacuate the premises from Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 7 p.m., for an indefinite period,” the city announced on social networks.

Lebel-sur-Quevillon

Watched by fire, the municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, 650 kilometers north of Montreal, was on the alert on Saturday.

At the start of the day, the authorities feared that the winds would push the blaze towards the community. The Nordic Kraft pulp mill was of particular concern. Sprinklers had been installed to prevent the flames from touching the substances stored there. Twenty forest firefighters and two air tankers fought against the fire.

For now, the worst seems to have been avoided. At the end of the day, the municipality expected a “calm” night. “Progress is slow. The fire is relatively stationary with lots of smoke,” she posted on Facebook.

“All the infrastructures present on the territory of the municipality of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, including the Nordic Kraft factory, are intact,” confirmed the city.

Located in Nord-du-Québec, the place has been almost deserted since the evacuation of its 2,000 citizens on Friday evening.

At a press conference on Saturday, the mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Guy Lafrenière, thanked the population for their collaboration during the evacuations. A little earlier, he had told The Press about twenty residents refused to leave the municipality. “We are on these cases, we try to convince them to leave today, he said. It’s not much. The first 2,000 evacuees went really well yesterday. »

Iac Simon

It was the turn of Lac-Simon, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, to be evacuated on Saturday. Aboriginal community leader Lucien Wabanonik issued an evacuation notice for all residents on Saturday morning due to the toxicity and heavy smoke in the air.

On Facebook, he asked the population to prepare the essentials needed for 48 hours in the event of an evacuation. “We will fight against this fire. We mobilize [des] heavy equipment for [créer] of the buffers behind the houses. We are doing everything we can to protect our homes,” he added.

Already, Friday evening, the hotels of Val-d’Or were full and the priority had been given to the elders and to the sick people, had indicated the chief Wabanonik.

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Elsewhere, residents evacuated several days ago were allowed to return home. In Chapais, in Nord-du-Québec, the blaze is now contained.

The population 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 M^me Lessard. The work to block the lights – a mechanized stop line – was nearing completion. However, vigilance and caution are always in order, underlined the small municipality. Thus, it remains forbidden to circulate in the forest and to make open fires.

Abitibi-Temiscamingue

The population of the MRCs of Vallée-de-l’Or and Abitibi received instructions on Saturday to confine themselves until Sunday morning, due to the smoke from the forest fires raging in the region.

The population is invited to stay inside their residence with their pets. She is also asked to close the windows and limit air exchange with the outside and not to leave vulnerable people alone and to avoid intense physical activity.

In the rest of Canada

In total, no less than 40,000 people have been evacuated across the country due to the forest fires that continue to rage across Canada. “It’s critical, it’s serious,” thundered the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.

Nearly 30,000 square kilometers have burned so far, “ten times more than the average for each of the last ten years. “We have been dealing with forest fires of unprecedented magnitude for several weeks,” said the MP for Quebec.

Fortunately, the situation is improving in some provinces. Alberta announced that it was ending the state of emergency, declared in early May, on Saturday. However, the province will continue to use all the resources necessary to fight against the fires which continue to burn, particularly in the north of the territory. A total of 57 wildfires remain active, 16 of which are out of control.

In the east of the country, the major fire that has forced the evacuation of thousands of people over the past week near Halifax, Nova Scotia, is now 85% contained. The efforts to fight the blaze, combined with the return of the rain, would explain the good news.