A Cree community in northern Quebec was being evacuated Friday because of heavy smoke from a nearby forest fire and fears that the blaze would cut off the town’s main road to the south of the province.
The wildfire in Mistissini, Que., was about 10 kilometres from the road to southern Quebec — and about 30 kilometres from the town itself, Chief Michael Petawabno said in an interview. Mistissini is the second largest Cree community in the province, home to around 4,000 people.
“It’s mainly the heavy smoke that’s coming into the community that’s the big factor,” Petawabno said.
With the smoke expected to worsen over the weekend and fears that the fire could block the road on Monday, officials decided to evacuate the community, he said. The chief said he was starting to see a level of anxiety among residents, who had been encouraged to stay inside and close their windows because of the smoke.
“Some couldn’t even run air exchangers or air conditioners because they could still smell the smoke, so we have to think of the health of the people,” he said.
The evacuation order was shaped by an incident earlier this month when Quebec Premier François Legault told a news conference that Mistissini was preparing to evacuate — a claim that was quickly contradicted by Petawabno. The premier said shortly after that there had been a miscommunication between the town and provincial fire officials.
Petawabno said Legault’s claim sparked panic, as people rushed to get gas and leave town. Now that the community was actually evacuating, he wanted to make sure people had sufficient warning: he issued the order Thursday evening but didn’t set a deadline for people to leave.
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As of 1 p.m., almost 1,500 vehicles had left the town, along with six busses carrying around 300 passengers, he said, adding that around 600 vulnerable people had already been evacuated. Most evacuees will go to Saguenay, Que., about 300 kilometres southeast, he said.
Petawabno said he’s confident that the community is safe from the flames. Canadian soldiers and firefighters from Spain are staying to protect the town, and fire breaks have been built, he said, adding that Mistissini is located on a peninsula and protected by water.
But even if infrastructure is saved, the charred forests will have an impact on life in the town. For many people, especially elders, the loss of forests — where they used to hunt — is difficult, he said.
“That’s one of the toughest things for our people here, we live off the land, and they’re not too happy with all the destruction that’s been caused by these fires,” he said. “That’s where you feel the hurt.”
Mistissini was the second Quebec community to order an evacuation within the past 24 hours.
The northern Quebec city of Lebel-sur-Quévillon ordered residents to leave by Thursday evening, after a fire cut off one of the two provincial highways connecting the city to the rest of the province. Mayor Guy Lafrenière said a second fire, further north, was expected to reach that road over the weekend.
“We’re waiting and hoping with all our hearts for rain next Tuesday,” he said in a video message.
The evacuation went well Thursday, Lafrenière said, adding that the last bus was scheduled to leave the community at noon Friday for the few people who had not already left.
It was the second time in less than three weeks that the city had ordered an evacuation due to the fires. Residents had been allowed to return on Sunday after a 17-day evacuation earlier this month, but most of the community’s approximately 2,000 residents didn’t return or left earlier in the week.
There were more than 100 fires burning in Quebec Friday, including 24 that were considered out of control, the province’s wildfire prevention agency — SOPFEU — said, adding that continued dry conditions were causing fires to gain strength. Since the beginning of the week, seven fires that had been contained were once again out of control, the agency said.
A ban on outdoor fires has been expanded to include the Gaspé Peninsula, most of the neighbouring Bas-St-Laurent region and Anticosti Island, SOPFEU said. The open fire ban had previously only applied north of the St. Lawrence River, excluding Montreal Island and the neighbouring city of Laval.
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