With recent evacuations due to the meteoric spread of wildfires in the north of the province, hundreds of Quebecers will have to reconcile celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste elsewhere than at home.
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“Are they going to do this all summer and keep evacuating us because of possible risks?” That’s what we’re wondering,” asks Manon Moreau, who was evacuated again from her home in Val-Paradis on Friday.
Citizens of Beaucanton, Val-Paradis and Lac Pajegasque, to the north of La Sarre, have been evicted from their homes due to the worrying spread of fires in the area.
An Ontario fire in particular is grabbing the place and looks set to join a focus already active in the industry.
However, Manon Moreau and her husband Éric Ducharme note that the authorities are currently being overly cautious.
“The definition of a threat is an imminent event that poses a hazard,” thunders Mr. Ducharme.
Courtesy of Manon Moreau
The 60-year-old geologist also criticizes the decision-makers for not giving enough information about the ongoing fires.
“We’re not at home. We don’t really know what’s going on with our property and we don’t have access to our property. What we see is that there’s no real danger,” he summarizes.
Senneterre on alert
A sector north of Senneterre, which mainly houses chalets, also had to be evacuated again on Friday evening. Residents were able to return to their homes about two weeks ago.
A fire is currently burning 8km from the end of the evacuated sector, Mayor Nathalie Ann Pelchat said in a news conference broadcast Saturday noon.
Mathieu Tremblay, whose property is in the woods about fifteen kilometers from Senneterre, has not been able to return home for three weeks because the road leading to his home was closed.
The fire is currently only a few kilometers from his holiday home, which he uses as his main property.
“It’s heads or tails: either my chalet catches fire or it burns out,” he says.
According to SOPFEU, 81 fires are still active, 25 of which are considered out of control. And the weather is causing problems for the firefighters on site.
“It hasn’t rained for several days and we don’t expect significant amounts before Monday or Tuesday. The fires continued to progress in several cases and generated a lot of smoke,” said SOPFEU spokesman Stéphane Caron.
Several tanker planes were unable to fly Saturday due to excessive smoke in certain areas.
Bad air quality
At noon on Saturday, the CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue recommended that the entire population of the region stay indoors for the next 24 hours due to the very poor air quality.
“According to forecasts, the entire region will be covered in smoke by the evening,” the CISSS announced on Facebook.
“You have the right to celebrate, but do it smartly and safely,” the mayor of Senneterre implored.
SOPFEU received several messages on Friday evening regarding the lighting of fireworks or bonfires in prohibited areas.
“Ultimately, we didn’t have many new lights. We therefore assume that the vast majority of people have complied with the ban,” Mr Caron said.
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