Clova, Que., the small town Premier Legault said was burning to the ground, still standing — for now
Wind change spares hamlet but ground crews may be pulled back for their safety
Meggie Richard's phone has been ringing off the hook since Quebec Premier François Legault said on live television that the province was letting the small hamlet she lives in burn to the ground.
"Everyone's going crazy," said Richard, who has lived in Clova — a village of three dozen year-round residents 500 kilometres north of Montreal — for 17 years and owns the village's only restaurant and corner store.
"The phones won't stop ringing. I've got my two cellphones, plus the home phone," Richard said, cutting the conversation short because she was getting a call on the other line. She said Clova residents who had decamped over the weekend were worried about the premier's comments.
Richard, who stayed behind, said her partner has been assisting firefighters in battling a blaze about three kilometres north of the town and that, contrary to what the premier said, "everything seems to be going well."
Shortly before CBC News spoke with Richard, Legault said in a news conference Monday afternoon that it was unfortunate but that due to an out-of-control fire, the Quebec forest fire agency, SOPFEU, had had to let Clova burn. Richard, who had not watched Legault's address, said she hadn't heard anything of the like from local officials or firefighting teams on the ground.
"It happens, but this weekend we managed to avoid the worst in the big municipalities, but there is a small municipality — of Clova — that unfortunately we were not able to save," Legault said.
The wildfire situation in Quebec worsened under dry conditions in many areas over the weekend, notably in the province's northwestern Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, where out-of-control fires near the municipalities of Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Normétal have forced thousands of people out of their homes. Officials are worried about a lack of rain forecast for the region.
"We're in a difficult situation," Legault said. "We're probably in it for the summer before everything is put out and for the forest to stop burning everywhere."
The province is seeing an unprecedented number of fires burning at once, at more than 150, though SOPFEU only has the resources to battle about 30 at a time. The agency's website showed a tally of 112 out-of-control fires.
Before the news conference in Quebec City Monday, Legault had invited journalists to film and take photos of him in a meeting room with Public Security Ministry and SOPFEU officials. Sitting at the table, he'd made a passing remark that "sadly for Clova, we've lost control, we're going to have to let Clova burn."
In response to CBC's request for clarification, Legault's press attaché simply sent a smartphone screenshot of a SOPFEU Facebook update on Clova, published after the premier's comments.
The statement said a fire near Clova had exceeded the agency's air tanker capacities, but that ground crews were working to hold the fire back from the town. "That said, the situation is critical and SOPFEU may eventually have to pull its teams out for their safety."
But Richard and another confused resident CBC spoke with, who also stayed behind after the evacuation, said no one had described the situation as critical to them and that it had in fact improved since Friday. Richard said she had heard of some cottages in the area burning, but didn't know how many.
Despite its small population, Clova attracts hundreds of hunting and fishing enthusiasts who have cottages or stay at one of its many commercial camps.
Concern over Abitibi-Témiscamingue region
Karine Pelletier, a SOPFEU spokesperson reached by a reporter after Legault's remarks, said the village appeared to be in a better position since winds had recently changed direction.
Pelletier did say, though, that if the fires began approaching Clova once again and that Lebel-sur-Quévillon was also under threat at the same time, the agency would have to prioritize Lebel-sur-Quévillon because it has a larger population and a pulp-and-paper plant with dangerous chemicals.
The roughly 2,000 residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon were ordered to evacuate Friday evening.
However, in an update Monday evening, SOPFEU said ground crews had been ordered to leave Lebel-sur-Quévillon for their safety and due to the fires' extreme danger and intensity.
They had been there working to secure the town and had built a fire guard around the lake and installed sprinklers. Water bombers are now working to control the two fires burning near the town.
Fires across the province have affected 200,000 hectares as overwhelmed firefighting teams struggle to keep up.
More than 10,000 people across the province have had to flee their homes due to the wildfires, which worsened significantly late last week.
Clova is part of the larger city of La Tuque, about 300 kilometres southeast of it. In a post to his professional Facebook page City Councillor Éric Chagnon said it was "completely false" that Clova had been left to burn.
"I just came back from there," Chagnon wrote, referring to Clova. "How can you announce such news to residents and vacationers who are going through this situation! There are people on site who are working hard to fight the flames and who are putting all their effort into it!"
Pierre Thibodeau, the other resident reached by CBC, was confused when asked whether his town had burned or was in imminent threat of burning.
"We're not scared," Thibodeau said, adding there was a team of SOPFEU firefighters operating out of the town and that there were two large Hydro-Québec lines nearby supplying electricity to Quebec City and Montreal.
Thibodeau and his wife were ordered to evacuate over the weekend and briefly stayed at a friend's hunting cabin 15 kilometres away but he said they returned to Clova yesterday, after it was clear to them the community was no longer in danger.
He said he and his wife were one of about five or six families who stayed in the area after the evacuation order, but that they would leave if things got worse.
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