The return home will be short-lived for the citizens of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, who will have to evacuate their residence a second time due to the rapidly progressing forest fires.
• Also read: The mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon’s morale is ‘below average’
“We are upset. “We thought about going upstairs at the end of the week to put the house in order and get out the precious belongings, like my father-in-law and mother-in-law’s urns,” sobs Diane Jannack, who has lived for five years in the small town with almost 2,100 inhabitants.
Since the first evacuation on June 2, the 68-year-old woman has lived day-to-day with her 64-year-old husband, who needs dialysis three times a week.
“It’s difficult. We go from family member to family member with our cat and dog. We’ve been to Senneterre, then to Gatineau,” says the woman, who sees her hopes of returning home fading.
“My biggest fear is losing everything,” she says.
Diane Jannack, 68, and her husband Luc Sauveageau, 64, were never able to return to their home in Lebel-sur-Quevillon as a second evacuation order was issued due to wildfires. PHOTO SUPPLIED BY DIANE JANNACK
a review
On Thursday afternoon, the mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Guy Lafrenière, announced in a press conference on Facebook that citizens would have to leave the site before 6:30 p.m. due to the rapid progression of the forest fires.
For the approximately 2,000 citizens of the municipality, who were allowed to return to their apartments after a 16-day absence last weekend, the honeymoon is over.
“We had visitors from France, so we decided to come back to show them our part of the country, but yesterday there was a lot of smoke, the air was so bad that the children couldn’t play outside,” says Juliet Collin.
She was on her way to a chalet in Mont-Tremblant with her spouse, their two daughters aged two and a half and ten months, their cat and their dog while waiting to find a place to stay in the future.
This time, unlike the first evacuation, the evacuees will not be able to find refuge in Senneterre, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
VAT News
Critical situation
The hot and dry weather of the past few days has accelerated the progression of Fire #344, which covered nearly 360,000 hectares east and north of Lebel-sur-Quévillon in North-du-Québec.
Yesterday morning, SOPFEU announced that it is fighting another 104 fires, 21 of which are considered out of control. “The prevailing weather situation is exceptional,” said Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Public Security Katia Petit. “We are talking about a very severe drought.”
VAT News
In view of this situation, the government calls on the population to strictly follow the rules in force, not to enter the forest in places where it is forbidden and not to light open fires.
“SOPFEU cannot afford to divert its attention from active fires, no more man-made fires must be added,” warned SOPFEU Deputy Director General Julie Coupal.
Quebec yesterday improved its compensation program for disaster victims. Citizens evacuated a second time will receive an additional $1,500.
With Laurent Lavoie and TVA Nouvelles
Can you share information about this story with us?
Write to us or call us directly at 1-800-63SCOOP.