Forest fire out of control near Chapais in northern Quebec
By The Canadian Press on June 1, 2023.
MONTREAL – Authorities say a forest fire is out of control in Chapais in northern Quebec. On Wednesday evening, the community near Chibougamau announced that residents in the southern part of the town had to evacuate. There are about a dozen active fires in the province, with the Chapais one and another near Sept-ÃŽles on Quebec’s north shore considered out of control. Meanwhile authorities say the situation is improving in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City, where two fires were declared under control and a third was contained. The province’s Natural Resources and Public Security departments issued a notice today asking people to avoid travelling in the province’s forests as much as possible due to the high flammability hazard. This week, authorities issued a ban on fires in or near forests across the province. Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency says the high temperatures and dry conditions enveloping the province, coupled with little rain, has left much of the province at the highest level on its index of fire danger. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2023. 9-8
