(Montreal) “Unfortunately we lost control. We must let Clova burn,” Prime Minister François Legault said on June 5, at the height of the historic wildfire season. Far from being destroyed, the hamlet in the municipality of La Tuque in Mauricie is now full of life.
Posted at 1:04 p.m
Morgan Lowrie The Canadian Press
Dominic Vincent’s motel and restaurant are full these days, thanks largely to lumber industry workers trying to harvest some of the burned wood before it spoils due to drought and insects.
“We have three years of harvest, but we only have one year for it, so we can talk about a race,” Mr. Vincent stressed in a telephone interview.
“There are quite a few forestry workers here at the moment who are normally already gone,” he adds, noting that the motels are “full, full, full.”
At the beginning of June, however, the picture looked very different. As more than 150 wildfires burned across Quebec, almost everyone in the small community had to evacuate.
Due to the intensity of the flames, which resulted in the tankers being unable to take off, Mr Legault even announced at a press conference that the teams were forced to “let Clova burn”. What the Prime Minister didn’t know, however, was that the fight to save Clova was far from over.
Mr. Vincent was one of about nine residents of the hamlet who stayed behind to protect their community, watering the areas around houses and streets for two consecutive nights, sometimes until 4:30 a.m.
Initially, the only machine they had at their disposal was an old pump, which was provided by the local fire department. In the hours that followed, they were able to get their hands on more modern equipment thanks to the support of regional companies.
Shortly after the Prime Minister’s statement, the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fires (SOPFEU) tried to rectify the situation by pointing out that efforts were still being made in Clova, including ground work and irrigation by helicopter, while the tankers were on the ground stayed.
According to Mr. Vincent, the worst of the crisis was already over when Mr. Legault made his statement – which didn’t stop his loved ones from sending him panicked messages.
“It looked worse from the outside,” Mr. Vincent said. Those remaining in the village still had an evacuation plan in place as the flames approached two kilometers from Clova.
An explanation and its implications
Éric Chagnon, councilor in La Tuque for the sector that includes Clova, regrets that Mr Legault was not better informed about the situation before his press conference.
When the Prime Minister said that we had to give up Clova to save other places, I felt that there was a bit of a lack of respect for the people who were still there.
Éric Chagnon, municipal councilor in La Tuque for the Clova sector,
Mr Chagnon recalls that even though the hamlet officially has only 36 residents, on average there are still around 100 to 200 people living in chalets or working in the forestry.
The area is also very popular for hunting, fishing and snowmobiling trips, which attract “lots of tourists.”
The councilor who helped bring water tanks to Clova during the fires says the province should learn to better prepare so villagers aren’t “left to fend for themselves” in the event of a fire.
“It is not normal that in Quebec or in Canada we have an army and many people fighting flames but have no training for this work and do not know how to help people in times of need. As difficult as this.” »
Avoidable losses
In Clova, no homes were destroyed by the flames, but several people lost their chalets – a situation Vincent said could have been avoided if residents had had access to more resources.
“There are people who lost their chalets because we weren’t equipped well enough to protect them,” he denounces.
The fire season was also difficult for the forestry and tourism businesses, which had to close their doors during the peak season.
Olivier Brossard, owner of César Camps du Nord in Clova, did not lose any of his chalets, but was deprived of significant income due to the ban on activities in the forest for much of June.
“We had just had two pandemic years where tourism was slow, and then there were the fires,” he mentions, adding that several outfitters like him are hoping for financial support from the government.
Today, when Mr. Brossard flies his planes over the forest, he can see the destroyed chalets and the burned trees.
“I think the people of Clova showed a lot of courage to save their village,” he said.
For his part, Mr. Chagnon is pleased that life in Clova is gradually returning to normal, so much so that owners who lost their chalet are already thinking about rebuilding it.
“There are people who always stay. They will never leave. »