Complete fire ban in the Pontiac

Complete fire ban in the Pontiac

The Pontiac is currently banned from lighting open fires, given the “extreme” risk of fire.

The Deputy Premier of Quebec and Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, recalled that the cooperation of citizens is essential in order to avoid the outbreak of fires, such as the major forest fire raging north of the Lac Saint-Jean.

Several Pontiac municipalities had already announced a ban on setting fires in their areas for the same reasons, including in Upper-Pontiac.

During the press briefing held Monday at the end of the day, Minister Guilbault also warned Quebecers about their water consumption, due to the little precipitation received in the last days.

Given the weather conditions that have evolved in the southern sector of Quebec, the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) issued last Friday, a ban on open fires in the forest or nearby everywhere in the Outaouais , including in the MRC Pontiac.

St-Jean-Baptiste and fireworks
Minister Guilbault finally asks the population to avoid fireworks this year during the St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations, considering the risk of fire on the rise in several sectors of Quebec.

Two major forest fires have been active in two regions of Quebec for several days. A first was detected last Tuesday in the Chute-des-Passes sector, in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, and the second has been underway since Friday in Rivière-Ouelle in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. SOPFEU is at work in these burnt territories.

Note that SOPFEU estimated Monday morning at 72,014 hectares of forest burned by the Lac-Saint-Jean fire, which is still calling on many firefighters to the ground.

The ban on open fires also aims to preserve the operational capacity of SOPFEU and that of municipal fire safety services during the pandemic, by limiting the risks of the spread of COVID-19 when firefighters responded to alerts.