Fires, smoke in Cree territory make for scary travel

Ground travel in and out of the Cree territory in northern Quebec has effectively ground to a halt, as fires and smoke have closed several community access roads and major routes in many parts of northern Quebec Cree territory. 

The airport was closed on Tuesday and internet service was out in Waskaganish. 

The Billy Diamond Highway — a major route connecting most of the Cree communities to each other and to the south — is closed from kilometre 6 to kilometre 590. The Route Transtaïga in northern Québec, a gravel road which connects Hydro-Québec installations between the Brisay generating station and Radisson, is closed east of kilometre 44; and the Route de nord is closed at kilometres 300 and 407.  

The access roads to Eastmain, Waskaganish and Wemindji are also closed with visibility down to almost nothing.

The conditions made for harrowing experiences for many travellers trying to get home or around the territory.

"We lived through this terrifying and traumatic experience [Monday] on the Billy Diamond Highway," wrote Joshua Paul Iserhoff on Facebook. 

Iserhoff and his wife and two children were trying to make their way to Nemaska from Montreal, where they attend school. 

They travelled the last leg of their trip Monday from Val d'Or. Conditions were so bad and the smoke so thick, they gave up and turned around.

Skies suddenly darkened 

"From blue skies to suddenly darkened, billowed, thick smoke. The gusts of winds were ferocious, unrelenting and indeed something we'd never experienced or seen." wrote Iserhoff, who is now in Barraute, southeast of Amos.

Iserhoff's sister Fawn was in a car behind theirs. For a long, terrifying time, they were unable to see her headlights. Iserhoff said both he and his wife prayed very intensely, and after more than an hour, they finally received a call from her when she was in a place with cell service.

"We hugged and cried under the rain — we are safe, but this traumatic experience is still very much raw," wrote Iserhoff.  

Betty Tomatuk was travelling to Eastmain on the access road when she came up against a wall of thick smoke. 

'Scary experience'

"It was a scary experience," wrote Tomatuk on Facebook. 

"Stay safe everyone and follow the directions of our fire department," she said.

Jason Coonishish is the co-ordinator of emergency services with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay. 

He worked with the Wemindji emergency team to plan a convoy for those heading up north earlier this week.

"The first task was to look for that window when it would be best to travel. It was set at midnight. It was very smoky with a lot of dust. All the vehicles had their hazard lights on," said Coonishish in Cree.

He said there was about a 15-kilometre stretch driven with fire visible along the Billy Diamond Highway.

"Convoys are safer because they are carefully organized. Anything can happen, someone can have a flat tire. If a person's vehicle breaks down, they can just hop on the next vehicle," he said.

Coonishish said that since June 2, there have been many convoys in Cree territory, with the biggest from Chibougamau, when residents from Oujé-bougoumou and Chibougamau were evacuated.

Nemaska announced on Tuesday in the afternoon that it is doing a partial evacuation, sending elders and vulnerable people to Quebec City.

Stranded travelers

Bertha Blackned was trying to return to Waskaganish after a hockey tournament in Gatineau over the weekend. 

She, her daughters and two-month-old granddaughter decided not to risk travelling further and stayed in Amos on Sunday night. On Monday, they had to move to another hotel, and as of Tuesday at noon, they didn't have a place to stay Tuesday night.   

"We don't have a room. We tried to book another room for tonight, but there are no more rooms," said Blackned. 

Her two sons are back home in Waskaganish and texted about how the thick the smoke is inside the house. 

"I'm kind of worried. They are 19 and 25, but I'm still worried about them," she said, adding she told them to close the windows and block the air conditioner.  

Emergency shelters have been set up in Matagami at the municipal arena, in Pikogan at the gymnasium of the École Migwan and at kilometre 381, a service centre along the Billy Diamond highway.