Port-Cartier maximum security prison in Quebec was evacuated as fires burned

Fires burning near Port-Cartier, Que., forced the evacuation of inmates from the local maximum-security prison, Correctional Service Canada officials confirmed Sunday, as favorable winds bolstered efforts to battle a pair of wildfires north of the city. .

The federal agency said the evacuation order was issued Friday and the inmates have since been moved to other secure federal correctional facilities.

“To carry out the evacuation, we put measures in place, together with our partners, to maintain the safety and security of our staff, the public and offenders in our care and custody,” the agency said in a press release on Sunday.

Victims who are on record are said to have been informed of the move.

The Port-Cartier facility has been associated with a number of notorious criminals, including serial killer Robert Pickton, who died in late May after being assaulted in prison by another inmate.

City officials in the Côte-Nord region announced Friday that it had declared a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of about 1,000 residents from three specific areas because of the fires.

The province’s forest fire prevention agency, SOPFEU, said Sunday that several fires remained out of control near Port-Cartier and Sept-Îles in eastern Quebec, north of the St. Lawrence, although favorable weather helped halt their progress toward the communities.

SOPFEU spokeswoman Mélanie Morin said the winds had changed direction since Friday and were now wetter and helping to push the flames north, away from Port-Cartier.

“The fires are still active, especially in the middle of the day when it warms up, you can see big plumes, but fortunately the fires are not progressing south at the moment,” she told a news conference.

Morin said water jets and helicopters were being used to drop water on the two nearest wildfires, including one about a dozen kilometers away from Port-Cartier. She said firefighting experts are hopeful that conditions will soon be safe enough to send people to fight the blaze at ground level as well as from the air.

The mayor of Port-Cartier said that despite the improved conditions, it is still too early to say when citizens in the three evacuated sectors of the city will be allowed to return home.

“The wind is with us,” said Alain Thibault in the press conference. “But if you let the citizens go home and the next day the winds are moving north and the fire is spreading at a kilometer an hour, that means a fire 11 kilometers away will be on the edge of town in 11 hours.”

Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for the area, warning of health risks posed by wildfire smoke. As of Sunday afternoon, the federal agency said the smoke was no longer causing poor air quality, although that could change if the winds shift again.

Lucie Cormier, spokeswoman for the regional public health department, told the press conference that about 40 medically vulnerable people had been moved from medical facilities and nursing homes in nearby Baie-Comeau as a measure to caution.

She said air quality is likely to fluctuate in the coming days and suggested people consider closing doors and windows and limiting vigorous outdoor activities to avoid smoke damage.

A provincial police spokesman assured evacuated residents that officers were monitoring the 300 empty homes to prevent break-ins and crime.

Meanwhile, the provincial government confirmed it had approved compensation of $1,500 per evacuated household and said it would cover costs incurred by municipalities fighting the fires.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 23, 2024.

By Morgan Lowrie in Montreal

Morgan Lowrie, Canadian Press