This was said by Mayor Guy Lafrenière on Thursday at the beginning of the evening. The return to Lebel-sur-Quévillon should therefore be gradual from Friday.
“Civil security confirms that the Nordic Kraft factory is safe. The reintegration plan for services and citizens will be implemented from Friday. We will plan the phased return tonight [jeudi] and confirm the official date of your return to our press conference, Friday at 11am, live on Facebook,” Mr Lafrenière announced to his population on the city’s Facebook page.
” Today [jeudi] “It was a good day,” he continued. We have been working very hard with our partners to initiate the restoration of essential services. fire 344 [l’incendie principal] was attended to by a team of American firefighters. It’s up to her to devise the plan of attack. From Friday, if necessary, the Portuguese firefighters can be called in to this fire. Otherwise they will work on the other two lights further east. Finally some good news for our citizens! »
The mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Guy Lafrenière
Photo: Radio Canada / Jonathan Dupaul
Mayor Lafrenière said earlier Thursday that his town and the Nordik-Kraft plant were completely safe. The firebreaks that have been built around the outskirts of the city since the fires broke out protect the facilities from the flames.
Mr. Lafrenière then did not give a return flight date, but already wanted to reassure the citizens of Lebel-sur-Quévillon.
Nordic Kraft presented us via satellite all the work that had been carried out since the fire broke out. Many people said the city was protected but the factory was not. “Since the work is finished, we were presented with the images to support: it is visible, my team and I, we are now reassured that the city and the factory are in complete safety,” he stressed.
The forest fires have caused great devastation to nature in the Lebel-sur-Quévillon sector.
Photo: Radio Canada
Yesterday (Wednesday) Mayor Lafrenière wondered when the Quévillonnais and Quévillonnaises would finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The world went with a small suitcase. People left thinking they would come back in two days. “I thought so myself,” he complained at the time.
Invited to appear on the show Worth Returning, Mr Lafrenière indicated that his citizens, who have been evacuated since June 2, are anxious to see when they will be able to return home. Now they are close to the answer.
Numerous reinforcements
A first contingent of American firefighters, who came to reinforce SOPFEU, got to work in Lebel-sur-Quévillon on Thursday morning. A hundred Portuguese firefighters who arrived at Val-d’Or airport on Thursday afternoon will therefore be called in to fight the forest fires, as stressed Guy Lafrenière.
“Our wish is that at some point one of the fires will retreat its path so that we can attack it head-on,” he explained. But this fire is so big I don’t know how many planes and helicopters it would take to put it out. “It is therefore imperative that as many people as possible are on site to be able to protect us between the fire and the city,” added Mr. Lafrenière.
protect infrastructure
Special attention is paid to the Nordic Kraft plant in Lebel-sur-Quévillon to protect it from forest fires.
Photo: Radio Canada
Firefighters from the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fire (SOPFEU), assisted by municipal firefighters, soldiers and foreign experts, fought around forty fires in Quebec.
Work continues to protect the infrastructure.
Unfortunately, the rain that was expected in the north-west fell sporadically during the course of yesterday. Very little rainfall fell in the Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Chibougamau and Chapais sectors. The La Sarre and Senneterre sectors, on the other hand, received larger amounts of rain, SOPFEU wrote on social networks on Wednesday.
The arena and Desjardins room of the Lebel-sur-Quévillon community center housed about sixty people from the United States who had traveled to fight the fire.
In Abitibi-Ouest, Normal came back to life on Wednesday, while Lebel-sur-Quévillon in North-du-Québec prayed for rain.
Route 113 between kilometer 244 in Waswanipi and kilometer 40 in Senneterre remained closed until further notice. The Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité constantly reminds the population that the forest fires are near the road.
Four sectors are still affected by the forest access ban, particularly around Senneterre, Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Waswanipi and Mistissini.
Photo: Department of Natural Resources and Forestry.
The ban on access to forests on land plots in the state territory is changed again. Since midday on June 14, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Nord-du-Québec sectors have been accessible again.
The partial dam also aims at access to forest roads.