Authorities fear sunny, windy weather could worsen forest fires in Quebec

Quebec's forest fire prevention agency feels that the weather could worsen the around 150 blazes in the province.

There are 955 forest fires burning across the country, with hundreds considered out-of-control.

In Quebec, there are about 150 active forest fires, mostly in the western part of the province.

SOPFEU, the province’s forest fire protection agency, says there have been five times as many brush fires as usual in the northern region since the start of this season. Alongside Quebec firefighters are others from New Brunswick, Alberta, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island.

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Another 43 firefighters from France joined the effort Saturday and 18 American firefighters arrived Friday under the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact (NFFPC).

SOPFEU says recent rains have helped, but they expect hot, sunny weather this week to fuel more fires.

“Right now, the return of clear weather at the beginning of the week, again, combined with some strong winds in some areas will probably increase the fire activity for the active fires and we hope that it won’t cause any new fires, of course,” said Tania Charron, a SOPFEU spokesperson.

The visiting firefighters are helping to relieve some of the 1,000 SOPFEU staff members who have been working non-stop for weeks.