Sept-les, Que., lifts evacuation order, thousands set to return home

With the two forest fires that threatened the city gradually moving away, Sept-les, Que., has lifted its evacuation order, and thousands ofresidents can now return home.

The evacuation was ordered last Friday morning andaffectedabout 5,000 residents whohad until 4 p.m. to leave their homes.

The order coveredthe Lac Daigle and Maliotenam sectors as well as areas east of downtown, includingLes Plages and Moisie.

With those orders now lifted,local officials told reporters on Tuesday thatprovincial police officers will be present to make sure the return home goes smoothly.

The city's mayor also stressed that people will need to be preparedto leave againin the coming days or weeks if the situation warrants it.

"The fight is far from over," said Sept-les Mayor Steeve Beaupr. "We will unfortunately have to learn to live with the risk, since a fire of this magnitude doesn't die easily."

Beaupr said the decision to allow residents to returnwas made after consulting with the province's forest firefighting agency, SOPFEU.

The mayor said one fire that had beenburning near Lac-des-Rapides is no longer a threat, and afire near theMoisieRiverhasn't grown much in the last few days and has moved further north.

The local health authority says 75 patients who were transferred to other hospitals in the province will be brought back gradually over the next 10 days.

Two Atikamekw communitiesOpitciwanin theSaguenayLac-Saint-Jean region and Manawan in the Lanaudire are among the latest to force some residents out due to the risk posed by forest fires.

Across Quebec, the number of fires has overwhelmed SOPFEU's capacity.

As of Tuesday, there wereabout 150 forest fires, with the vast majority of them burning out of control. SOPFEU can handle about 30 at a time.

Abitibi region still under threat

Several municipalitiesin theAbitibi-Tmiscamingue region in western Quebec are still threatened,most notably Normtal and Lebel-sur-Quvillon.Many residents in those towns had to leave their homes last week.

"The situation will still be complicated as long as there are this many fires," said Public Security Minister Franois Bonnardel during a news conference Tuesday.

"We might get even more worried starting tomorrow or the day after, with northeastern winds that could push towardlarger municipalities."

There are about 230 firefighters in the region. Bonnardel expects that number to double in the coming days, thanks to help from New Brunswick.

In total, the province says six planes have been deployed to the Abiti-Tmiscamingue region and the North Shore. Two of those are headed to Baie-Comeau to help protect Hydro-Qubec infrastructure in the area.

PremierFranois Legault also said there areconcerns about the Cree Nation of Chisasibiin northern Quebec where a forest fire erupted Monday evening. However, that fire is now contained, according to SOPFEU.

In Clova, Que., in the province's Mauricie region, Legault says there are currently no residences under threat except for a few cottages, despite the fire that has been burning since last week.

He did say, however, that the fire is too out of control for SOPFEU to intervene.

"I think we need to be honest with the people of Clova. Currently we cannot send planes there," he said, during a separate news conference.

When asked if his government was considering giving financial aid to people who have had to leave their homes, the premier didn't rule anything out, though he did say that many evacuees only had to leave their homes for a few days and had friends and family take them in.