This was explained by SOPFEU spokesman Josée Poitras on Wednesday in an interview with the Téléjournal Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.
In addition, more than 300 other firefighters have been trained by SOPFEU in the past few days. These will integrate the various Forest Fire Department teams in Quebec. According to the SOPFEU website, 137 wildfires were still active in Quebec as of Wednesday night.
Josée Poitras, Prevention and Communication Officer at the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fires (SOPFEU)
Photo: Radio Canada / Priscilla Plamondon Lalancette
No rain is expected in North Quebec
The lack of a precipitation forecast worries SOPFEU.
It rained a little in Saguenay. It rained a little in Roberval, but only on the plain and around the Saguenay. And in the Chute des Passes sector there is no water that has fallen, so people have asked us if we can return to the forest, no, partly because it is still dry weather, explained Josée Poitras.
However, the rain of the last few hours reduced the risk of fire in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. This allows SOPFEU to focus its efforts on the Chibougamau sector, which has not received any rain for several days.
The smoky sky in Chibougamau at around 8:50 p.m. on June 6, 2023.
Photo: Facebook / Jonathan the Prof
This allows us to integrate our teams that will be added tomorrow [jeudi] and on the weekend. We will be able to contain some fires. […] It was a very important propagation, it is a fuel that is very dry and resinous. That’s why we’re still working on tanker planes today. There were surgeries to reduce the intensity, stated Josée Poitras.
In addition to the air tankers, SOPFEU says it completed the construction of a protective trench around Chibougamau on Wednesday.
The wildfire that was threatening Chibougamau covered 78,000 hectares as of Wednesday night, according to Josée Poitras.
Mayor Manon Cyr has also announced that evacuated residents will not be able to return home until Saturday at the earliest.
Some unruly ones
Chibougamau City Councilor Jonathan Mattson said the city’s overnight evacuation went well Tuesday night despite some rebels.
Yesterday [mardi]There were about a hundred recalcitrants that had yet to be evacuated this morning. I know that at least almost twenty people were evacuated during the day. Among 7,500 people there are very few. [L’évacuation] was relatively calm. “I didn’t see any eruptions, I didn’t see any horns, I didn’t see people who were aggressive,” he said in an interview with the Téléjournal Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.
Jonathan Mattson is a local councilor in Chibougamau.
Photo: Radio Canada
The Sûreté du Québec also has a strong presence in Chibougamau to ensure there are no interruptions. A dozen police officers are on site.
“They roam the streets, so it’s very safe. Currently we want to make sure there are no break-ins or other misdeeds. »
– A quote from Hugues Beaulieu, speaker of the Sûreté du Québec
With information from Mélanie Patry and Priscilla Plamondon Lalancette