The chief of Lac-Simon has issued an evacuation notice for all residents of this Aboriginal community in Abitibi-Témiscamingue due to smoke from the fires. In Lebel-sur-Quévillon, in Jamésie, an easterly wind is still driving the fire towards the community whose residents were evacuated on Friday evening. In Chapais, the mayor announced on Saturday morning that evacuated citizens can return to their homes.
Posted at 9:32 am. Updated at 11:49 am
The fires continue to cause damage and headaches across Quebec. In Lac-Simon, an Aboriginal community east of Val-d’Or, Chief Lucien Wabanonik ordered the general evacuation of residents on Saturday morning.
Toxic air and smoke are the main reasons for the evacuation, he wrote on Facebook. As early as Friday evening, Mr Wabanonik indicated in his report that the Val-d’Or hotels were full and that priority was given to the elderly and the sick.
The community leader asks the members to prepare a stay of at least two days, to bring the essentials and to think about medication.
Lebel-sur-Quévillon on the path of fire
650 kilometers north of Montreal, the community of Lebel-sur-Quévillon remains at risk as of Saturday morning. “As announced, the fire spread during the night,” explained Mélanie Morin, SOPFEU spokeswoman for Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The fire is said to have started near the Nordic Kraft factory. As the east winds shift today, the winds are driving the fire toward the community and toward Highway 113.”
PHOTO FROM ANIK BOUDREAULT’S FACEBOOK PAGE
A plane flies over Lebel-sur-Quévillon
Twenty forest firefighters are working hard to create a firebreak between Lake Quévillon and Route 113 to protect the community, she said. Two fire engines also put out the fire. In order to prevent the fire from affecting the substances stored there, sprinkler systems are installed in the Nordic Kraft plant.
The mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Guy Lafrenière, told La Presse that about twenty of the approximately 2,100 residents still refuse to leave the municipality. “We’re busy with these cases and trying to convince them to stop today,” he says. It is not much. The first 2,000 evacuees were doing really well yesterday. »
Chapais residents reinstated
Meanwhile, residents applauded Chapai’s Mayor Isabelle Lessard when she announced at a news conference Saturday morning that they could go home.
About half of the community’s residents have been evacuated since Wednesday evening. The night had been favorable for Chapais, Ms Lessard said. Work to block the lights – a mechanized stop line – was nearing completion on Saturday morning.
There are currently 144 active fires in Quebec, including 137 in the south of the province.