Quebec wildfires stabilized after weekend rain, SOPFEU says

The Quebec forest fire prevention agency (SOPFEU) told CTV News on Monday that all of the province’s wildfires have stabilized following rainfall over the weekend.

The pace of operations has completely changed over the weekend thanks to the precipitation received and what is still forecast for this week,“ a media spokesperson for the agency said.

“The rain has allowed all of our fires to stabilize.”

According to the agency, there are currently 136 active wildfires across Quebec. All are either under observation or under control, except for two fires in the south, which are contained. In the Intensive Protective Zone, there are eight active fires.

The update comes after SOPFEU requested additional fire personnel from the U.S. and France to help battle wildfires across the province.

In addition to the 18 U.S. firefighters from Maine, Connecticut and New Hampshire, and the 43 French firefighters, crews from New Brunswick, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island also joined the response.

“This mutual aid agreement enables member states and provinces to share firefighting resources when wildfire activity exceeds their operational capacity,” the spokesperson said.

The Ministère de la Sécurité Intérieure (MSI) lifted its ban on open fires in or near forests as of noon Monday. This decision was made in collaboration with SOPFEU. The ban had been in effect since July 13.

The province also lifted restrictions on access to and travel within forests in the areas covered by the measure on Monday.

According to the agency, 336 fires have affected 124,417.9 hectares of forest in the Intensive Protection Zone (ZPI), and 278 fires have affected 600,178.3 hectares in the Northern Zone (ZN) since the start of the fire protection season.