All the conditions are in place for Quebec to burst into flames like the western part of the country and Nova Scotia, while the province has an “extreme flammability index.”
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“Precipitation, humidity, wind speed: this cocktail takes everything to the extreme. The smallest spark is enough,” explained Mélanie Morin, spokeswoman for SOPFEU (Society for the Protection of Forests from Fires), in an interview with the QMI agency.
The damage is already evident, as evidenced by the 250,000 customers who lost power due to the infrastructure fires in Hydro-Québec’s north coast. According to SOPFEU, the number of fires in Quebec territory fluctuated around 70 late Thursday afternoon.
The weather forecast doesn’t help: The next rain is not expected until next week. Although this is fire season, “it’s been a few years since we’ve seen that many during this time,” Ms. Morin said.
The drought is so severe that Quebec has issued a warning to “limit travel in the forest as much as possible over the next few days”. Open fires in or near the forest are already forbidden “across the board”.
SOPFEU’s 350 seasonal employees, mainly firefighters specializing in forest fires, are currently hard at work, as are the 15 tanker planes and helicopters that enable travel in the area.
In early May, firefighters from Quebec Alberta were able to help, but the situation in Quebec now requires all available personnel.
“We are aware that the situation is changing rapidly and we are keeping a close eye on Quebec as the fires begin to affect the province,” said Stéphane Lauzon, Ottawa Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Economic Development.
The Cree communities of the First Nation Waskaganish and the Innu group of Pessamit are most at risk due to their proximity to affected areas.
After the west of the country and the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in early May, it is now the turn of the east of the country and Nova Scotia to be hit by “unprecedented fires”.
“These conditions are absolutely unprecedented at this point in the season and are obviously a cause for concern,” said Bill Blair, Canada’s Public Safety Minister.
There are currently 211 wildfires raging in the country and 82 are out of control, he said.
“We know we are on a path where there will be more and more fires,” said Yves Bergeron, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Forest Management and a professor at UQAM and UQAT.
Climate projections point to two trends that will inevitably exacerbate Quebec’s wildfires: shorter winters, which translate to longer fire seasons, and a higher frequency of fires in the territory.
Devastating fires in western Canada and Nova Scotia
The equivalent of about 5 million soccer fields has been reduced to rubble by particularly fierce wildfires across the country since the beginning of the year, and the provinces of western Canada and now Nova Scotia are paying the price.
As of May 10, 450 troops have been deployed in Alberta, and more are en route to Nova Scotia, whose request for assistance was received and approved Thursday.
With 16 active fires, the Maritimes province is experiencing a particularly devastating season: more than 16,000 people have had to be evacuated from the main Halifax suburbs, while a fire near Lake Barrington has already devastated 20,000 hectares, making it Nova Scotia’s largest fire in the world Story.
In addition to the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard will help transport personnel, the Department of Transportation will provide aerial surveillance, and Canada’s Health Agency will provide beds and blankets for those forced to flee.
“We’re far from over the hill. We still face a very dangerous and volatile situation,” said David Steeves of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources.