Residents of the Cree communities as well as the village of Radisson in the Eeyou Istchee Baie-James area were evacuated by air on Friday due to wildfires that have recently worsened in the northern zone.
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“Everyone has to be evacuated by plane because Billy Diamond Road, the only one that leads to Radisson, is blocked due to a major fire,” said Aurèle Gravel, Radisson Deputy President, who gave the evacuation order at noon.
Around 170 residents crowded onto two planes that flew from this small town in the James Bay region to Montreal early Friday evening. The other citizens had already left the scene, Mr Gravel said on the phone.
hard to breathe
He says the fire is about 70 kilometers from Radisson, but it’s mainly the smoke being driven by the winds toward the location that’s causing people inconvenience at the moment.
“We have no choice but to evacuate, it’s difficult to breathe. We can’t stay in the smoke like that, it’s very intense and dangerous,” dropped Aurèle Gravel.
Courtesy of ANNE-SOPHIE GIRARD
Anyone who has no relatives near the metropolis will be accommodated in a hotel in Montreal for the next few days. This is the first time this year that Radisson has had to be evacuated due to wildfires in Quebec.
“People worry, it’s a stressful situation, but they keep calm and go along with it. “It’s going well,” said Mr. Gravel.
Cree communities in northern Quebec, including Chisasibi and Waskaganish, also began evacuating some of their residents on Friday. At the end of the afternoon, a helicopter from Eastmain landed in the village of Matagami. Other people from this Cree nation that has been fully evacuated remain in Rouyn-Noranda.
Because of the lightning
According to the map of the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fires (SOPFEU), 86 fires are currently active in the northern zone. That’s four fewer than this morning. Of these, 12 are considered out of control.
If the situation in the north zone has deteriorated so much in recent days, it is because of lightning that struck last week and started fires.
In addition, a very intense drought last month favored the fire, explains SOPFEU spokesman Josée Poitras.
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