Quebec wildfires prompt thousands more to relocate

The number of forest fires in Quebec notched up to 156 Sunday from 134 the day before

Wildfires in northwestern Quebec prompted thousands to evacuate the area over the weekend, as the number of blazes pushed past 150 and firefighters and the military poured into parts of the province to fight the encroaching flames — even as that threat eased slightly Sunday on the North Shore.

Some 5,500 residents of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, which borders Ontario, have been relocated, Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said at a news conference in Montreal.

Another 4,500 people in the North Shore community of SeptÎles and its outskirts were also forced from their homes due to a pair of wildfires burning north of the city, but no further evacuations are planned at the moment, Bonnardel said.

Rain is expected in the area in the coming days — though not as much as initially forecasted — and the wind direction there and in Abitibi are favourable, he added.

Nonetheless, the state of emergency in Sept-Îles, which sits about 890 kilometres northeast of Montreal, has been extended for five days, with evacuation orders in place at least through Monday morning.

Some 100 soldiers were set to arrive Sunday evening to lend a hand, hot on the heels of the 100 who landed in the city Saturday.

The number of forest fires in the province notched up to 156 Sunday from 134 the day before, including 35 actively being fought by teams from Quebec forest fire prevention organization SOPFEU.

“We concentrate our battles on these fires because we want to protect human life, the houses and enterprises. And we want to protect our infrastructure, like HydroQuébec’s,” Bonnardel said at the news conference held alongside other public officials at provincial police headquarters.

Hundreds of soldiers will deploy across the province, joining 475 firefighters under SOPFEU’s banner, he said.

An additional 200 provincial police officers are also deployed in the most affected regions.