Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
A city on the north coast of Quebec issued an evacuation order Friday due to the threat of dangerous fires in the area.
The city of Port-Cartier, about 600 kilometers northeast of Quebec City, said residents in Parc Brunel, Parc Dominique, and those living north of Route 138, were ordered to evacuate by 8 p.m., according to a post on the city’s Facebook page.
Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said on social media that about 1,000 residents had been forced to leave their homes and that government officials were providing assistance to the victims.
Evacuees were told to go to a temporary shelter at the Henri-Leonard Center in Baie-Comeau, which is about 170 kilometers away.
It is possible that the maximum security Fort-Cartier institution will also be forced to evacuate the approximately 200 prisoners held.
A bus is also expected to transport residents who do not have a car or who cannot drive, the municipality said.
“We are aware of the concern that such a situation can create,” the municipality wrote in a post. “In this sense, we ask you to remain calm and drive carefully.”
Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency, Société de Protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU), said that on Thursday, lightning strikes sparked seven forest fires north of Port-Cartier and Sept-Îles, Que. Five of the fires have been extinguished but two remain out of control.
Some residents in September-Illes have been told to be on standby in case the municipality orders them to evacuate.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
source link https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/residents-in-port-cartier-que-ordered-to-evacuate-due-to-wildfires-1.6937012
