Firefighters in the province are battling 140 fires, most of which are considered out of control, and authorities are hoping that additional staff and rainfall will give some relief.
The Canadian province of Quebec, was heavily hit by the country’s wildfires.
Residents were excited at the arrival of reinforcements from outside on Wednesday to help beat back blazes that are overwhelming its firefighting capability.
Following huge flare-ups in western Canada last month, firefighting efforts recently went to Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast, before moving this week to Quebec, which has become the crisis’s epicenter.
Firefighters Battle For Control
Firefighters in the province are battling 140 fires, most of which are considered out of control, and authorities are hoping that additional staff and rainfall will give some relief.
However, Quebec Premier Francois Legault stated, that no significant rain is expected before Monday evening, raising concerns about a lack of resources.
He said during a press conference that, “with the current personnel, we can fight about 40 fires at the same time during a press conference”.
Hundreds of firemen have been deployed in Quebec, with assistance from France and the United States likely in the following days.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau termed it “the worst wildfire season we’ve ever had right across the country” on Wednesday.
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In recent years, Canada has been pounded frequently by extreme weather, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming.
Trudeau Speaks On Damages
“These fires are affecting everyday routines, lives and livelihoods, and our air quality,” Trudeau said on Twitter on Wednesday, vowing to keep fighting climate change.
As of Wednesday, around 3.8 million hectares had been burned, and more than 20,000 people were displaced across Canada.
This figure is expected to climb as thousands more people in Quebec were asked to leave by the end of the day.
Nancy Desaulniers, one of them, claimed in a Facebook post that she, her partner, and their two dogs escaped their home in Chibougamau around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
“We decided to leave by boat, which allowed us to bring important belongings.” She explained.
Daniel Harvey, a resident of Chapais, a neighbouring hamlet planning to flee, said, “it’s very stressful”.
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He claimed to have acquired vital documents, hard disks, and photographs.
He said: “We don’t know what will happen, so we have to act as if everything could burn”.
Legault also said that evacuation orders will most likely remain in effect until at least next week.
Since the beginning of the year, Quebec has registered 443 wildfires, more than doubling the average for the same period during the previous decade.
The smoke from the Quebec fires has reached Toronto and numerous US cities, including New York, where the Manhattan skyline was barely visible.
