MONTREAL — A northwestern Quebec municipality with an intense wildfire on its doorstep did not get the rain it had hoped for this week, preventing a shift in the fight that could allow residents to return, officials said Wednesday.
The province's forest fire prevention agency, known by its French acronym SOPFEU, said wildfires near Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Que., continue to threaten the community 620 kilometres northwest of Montreal.
Less than one millimetre of rain fell Tuesday around the town, which has been evacuated since June 2. Its mayorasked residents Wednesday to pray for rain.
"Sadly for us yesterday, we didn't receive a lot precipitation," Mayor Guy Lafrenière said. "Today, it's a nice sunny day with no clouds. We've been praying for rain, but it's taking a bit of time."
Quebec officials said rainfall over the previous 24 hours in the northern part of the province was insufficient to douse wildfires near Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Chibougamau, where residents were allowed to return Monday.
"The rain is our best ally to get the upper hand," Sylvain Tremblay told a technical briefing on Wednesday. "It would take a good 20 to 25 millimetres of rain over a few days, which would allow us to put out some parts of the fire for good and leaving just hot spots."
Around Lebel-sur-Quévillon, between 300,000 and 350,000 hectares are currently on fire, including one large fire that covers 200,000 hectares. The Nordic Kraft pulp mill near the community is also under threat.
"We can't take any risks," Public Security Minister François Bonnardel told reporters in Quebec City. "For the moment, the situation is too worrisome in the short and medium term to tell Lebel-sur-Quévillon residents they can return in the next 48 hours."
By the end of the week, Quebec authorities expect 1,500 firefighters on the ground including a sizable contingent of international reinforcements. The teams will include 72 crew from New Brunswick, 106 from France, 119 from the United States, 100 from Portugal and 140 from Spain, in addition to 283 Canadian Forces members. The international firefighters are expected to stay two to three weeks, Tremblay said.
About 2,800 Quebecers — including roughly 2,000 from Lebel-sur-Quévillon — remained evacuated on Wednesday, but about 800 people living in Normétal, a municipality in the Abitibi region in northwestern Quebec, began returning home on Wednesday. A fire in the area had crept to within 500 metres of the community at one point last week.
Officials reminded the public that fires remain active in many areas where people have been able to return home this week.
Lance Cooper, deputy chief of Oujé-Bougoumou, a Cree community near Chibougamau, says its residents were allowed to return this week. No damage was reported in the community of about 800.
"Everybody is back home now for now. It's safe, but the only problem is smoke," Cooper said. "So we're going to keep watch of that, but there's no fires that are at a close distance at the moment."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2023.
— With files from Patrice Bergeron in Saguenay, Que.
Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
