Quebec civil protection officials and the Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU) said Thursday that Chibougamau is “clearly” likely to be evacuated once again due to wildfires. In Nord-du-Québec, residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon will soon be able to return to their homes, Mayor Guy Lafrenière announced Thursday evening.
In a statement on Facebook, Mr. Lafreniere confirmed that “the service and citizen reintegration program will be used from this”. [vendredi] Restoration of essential services is progressing well.
Regarding the return of some 2,000 evacuees from the Nord-du-Québec municipality, he assured a press conference that planning had already been done Thursday evening and that an “official date of return” could be confirmed on Friday. 11 am, live. on Facebook.
Earlier in the day, Sylvain Tremblay, SOPFEU’s strategic adviser, explained during a press conference that the rains of the past few days had made it possible to “normalize” the situation in many places in Quebec. “Except in Nord-du-Québec and Abitibi,” he said.
In these areas, it has not rained for the past few hours,” he said. Light rain is expected in the coming days, “before the good weather returns,” Mr. Tremblay said.
In Chibougamau, where residents returned to their homes on Monday, it was “clearly” possible that a new evacuation would be ordered. Tremblay said. “We have ensured that the fire on Chipogamau road is contained and extinguished. So, we try to keep traffic lanes open as much as possible,” he explained. “A few variables can change the results quickly,” he cautioned.
The following are “not obvious”. From June 15 to July 15, Mr. Tremblay said. “With good weather, the rest of the things are sure to get tough again,” he pointed out.
“Not Easy”
The good news among the bad: The respite provided by the rain in some regions is allowing some teams to rest. “We have people who have been on the job for several weeks, so the rotations have already started for pilots, managers. After 20, 24, 26 days of work, “teams take time off, Mr. Tremblay explained.
This allays fears of a shortage of tanker pilots last week.
Mr. Tremblay explained. “We are not in the same situation as we were a few days ago. On the other hand, it was not easy at the moment,” he recalls.
On the ground, around 1,200 forest fighters and 342 soldiers are still working to control the forest fire. About 300 reinforcements from the United States will be added on Friday. The forest firefighters who arrived from Portugal on Wednesday will soon be stationed in Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Chibukama, while their counterparts from Spain will go to the area north of Raberval.
So far, more than a million hectares of forest have burned in Quebec. It’s an image that “strikes the imagination,” Mr. Tremblay underscored. The annual average over ten years is about 2000 ha.
By late Thursday afternoon, Quebec counted 105 active fires in addition to twenty in the northern region. A total of 26 fires were not brought under control.
With Canadian Press
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