Dry, sunny weather elevates fire risk in parts of southwestern Quebec: SOPFEU

A SOPFEU patch from Quebec's forest fire protection agency. (Noovo Info)

A week of dry, sunny weather has elevated the risk of fires in several regions of southwestern Quebec.

The provincial forest fire protection agency, SOPFEU, says the fire danger index has been on the rise in Outaouais, the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Mauricie, and Temiscamingue, particularly in areas where the snow cover has disappeared.

The risk of a fire ranges from very high to extreme at least until Monday. SOPFEU said an abundance of dead vegetation in the spring tends to dry out quickly and catches fire easily.

There have been 19 vegetation fires in southern Quebec since early April, including eight so far this weekend.

“It is therefore not recommended to burn yard waste. SOPFEU instead suggests composting plant material, using municipal yard waste collection services, or taking large branches to ecocentres,” according to Stéphane Caron, a prevention and communication manager at SOPFEU.