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QUEBEC FIRE AUTHORITIES SAY THEY'RE UNABLE TO BRING ALL FIRES UNDER CONTROL

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VAL D'OR AND NORMÉTAL LATEST MUNICIPALITIES EVACUATED, FOREST ACCESS BANNED

Erika Morris - CBC News



Posted: June 04, 2023
Last Updated: June 04, 2023

As fires blaze in Quebec, Val d'Or's residents are encouraged to stay indoors as
the air quality is still considered very bad. (Courtesy of Henri Jacob)

Quebec's fire authority says it's unable to bring all 153 fires burning in the
province under control. It says it can only attack between 20 to 30 fires at a
time until reinforcement arrives.

"We took charge of 35 fires today, compared to 21 yesterday. We chose specific
fires to protect our critical infrastructures, but above all to protect our
population," said Public Security Minister François Bonnardel at a news
conference Sunday.

"All our resources are concentrated on these fires." 

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Armed forces and firefighters from outside the province started arriving
Saturday to help local firefighters. About 100 soldiers are on the ground and
550 more firefighters are on the way. 

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Twitter that France
will send 100 firefighters as reinforcements to help combat the fires burning
throughout Quebec. 

The backup should allow the provincial fire authority, the Société de protection
des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU), to change its strategy — which currently aims
to protect cities and infrastructure — to go on the attack and put out the fires
for good.


FOREST ACCESS BANS

Quebec's Forestry Ministry banned access to more forests and closed roads as of
8 a.m. Sunday as fires continue to burn across the province.

Access to forests in northern Quebec, Côte-Nord, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean,
Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Mauricie, Outaouais, Lanaudière and the Laurentians are
limited. A list of closed parks and forests is available on the government's
website.



Read more!



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The ministry says it is necessary to restrict access to forests to lower the
risk of new fires and to help make firefighting operations easier.

The risk of new forest fires is also prompting the agency that manages Quebec's
provincial parks network, the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec
(SEPAQ), to ban or limit access to 13 of its parks. They include the La
Vérendrye and the Laurentides wildlife reserves, and a full list of closed parks
is available.


STATE OF EMERGENCY

Val d'Or and a nearby town in Abitibi-Ouest are the latest municipalities to
proceed with evacuations because of the forest fires. Val d'Or has declared a
state of emergency.



 * Municipalities across Quebec on alert as wildfires rage across province



The city issued an evacuation order for people living in the sectors of
Louvicourt, Lac Wyeth, Lac Guéguen, Lac Matchi-Manitou and Lac Villebon, "given
that two out-of-control fires are raging on the east side of the Louvicourt
sector and due to poor air quality," it said in a news release.

Evacuees can head over to the Fournier Multisport Center, which is also
sheltering people from the Anishinaabe Nation of Lac Simon and the Algonquin
community of Kiticisakik forced to leave their homes Saturday.

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Those in Val d'Or's urban core are not affected by the evacuation notice as
fires don't threaten the area, though the air quality is still considered very
bad and residents are encouraged to stay indoors.

The town of Normétal in Abitibi-Ouest is also under an evacuation order.
Officials redirected the 754 residents south of the town to either Dupuy or La
Sarre.

Heavy smoke from forest fires hangs in the air on Route 117 toward Val d'Or,
Que. ( Boualem Hadjouti/Radio-Canada)

In total, about 14,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in
communities near forest fires, including Sept-Îles on Quebec's North Shore, the
neighbouring Innu community of Mani-Utenam and Lebel-sur-Quévillon in Northern
Quebec.

The city of Sept-Îles has renewed a local state of emergency for five days, but
no new evacuations will take place Sunday.

Evacuation notices for the Moisie, Les Plages and Lac Daigle sectors will
be maintained for at least another 24 hours.  

Mayor of Sept-Îles Steeve Beaupré says he doesn't want people to return to their
homes and have to be evacuated again. But, he is optimistic on the evolution of
fires by Nipissis River as they are slowing down.

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 * Evacuees welcomed in neighbouring Innu community following Quebec wildfires



Though temperatures are cooler, a change of winds and having less rain than
expected in the forecast at the beginning of the week is causing concern, he
said.


HOSPITALIZATIONS, AIR EVACUATIONS 

Manon Asselin, the general director of the CISSS Côte-Nord, said 47 people
needed acute care and were transported to hospitals in Montreal and Quebec City
by air evacuation. 

No more air evacuations are planned and authorities say they are preparing to
evacuate patients by road if needed. 

WATCH | Fires persist across Canada, but Blair says 'a lot of work done' to
prepare for challenging season: 



Show more
Rosemary Barton Live speaks with Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair
about the unprecedented start to the wildfire season across Canada and how
Ottawa is responding to the requests for help.  9:53




ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Erika Morris
CBC News journalist

Erika Morris is a journalist at CBC Montreal.

With files from Radio-Canada
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Report Typo or Error


RELATED STORIES

 * Forest fires force thousands out of their homes in Quebec's North Shore
 * VIDEO Forest fire forces evacuation of 500 homes in Chapais, Que.
 * Municipalities across Quebec on alert as wildfires rage across province


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