Now it’s Quebec’s turn to experience its season in Hell. After Alberta in the west of the country in early May and Nova Scotia in the east, in the week of May 27th, the Belle province has been hit by fires since May 29th. At the height of the crisis, on June 5, the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fire (Sopfeu) counted 160 active outbreaks in Quebec, 90% of which were considered assessed ” out of control “.

The fires are worst on the north coast along the St. Lawrence River, about 900 kilometers east of Montreal, and in Abitibi-Témiscamingue in the northwest of the province. Dozens of municipalities declared a state of emergency in their cities and again took evacuation orders on Tuesday evening. And within days, nearly 10,000 people had to temporarily evacuate their homes.

Among them were the 1,500 residents of the Innu community of Mani-utenam, near Sept-Îles, the north coast capital, who ordered the site to be evacuated on June 2 afternoon as the fire was dangerously close to where they live approached. “We couldn’t smell anything, the wind blew the smoke north, says one resident, Albert Volland, But when we heard on the radio that we had to leave everything without panicking, we packed our most important things, our papers, and set off. » To an inn for him and his family a few kilometers away, while other residents took the bus to seek shelter in the friendly Innu community of Pessamit, 300 kilometers away. Four days later, on June 6, the evacuation order was lifted. “Finally the rain is here, it’s falling, and it’s heavy”, Albert Volland rejoiced when he found his home intact. In Abitibi, on the other hand, the weather services are forecasting no precipitation for the coming days apart from a few brief thunderstorms with the risk of lightning.

Impaired air quality

A total of 220,000 hectares have already gone up in smoke on Quebec territory; On the same day, Sopfeu reported that less than 250 hectares had burned on average over the past decade. Quebec’s 480 deployed firefighters, supported by 150 Canadian Forces soldiers, realize they can’t handle all fires. On June 4, Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment of a hundred French firefighters. “Canada is facing terrible fires. France stands together (…). Canadian friends, reinforcements are coming.”wrote the head of state on Twitter. “Thank you, cousins! », the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, immediately replied. But while waiting for reinforcements scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, authorities had to prioritize: “First protect lives, then ensure the security of strategic infrastructures like Hydro-Québec’s” (public hydroelectric power company) and finally try to save the forest if possible.

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