Oujé-Bougoumou, Cree community, evacuated amid wildfires
Posted June 8, 2023 3:33 pm.
Last Updated June 8, 2023 6:23 pm.
Oujé-Bougoumou, a Cree community in northern Quebec, has been evacuated due to the burning wildfires. The community of about 800 have all mostly left their homes. With many being routed to Chicoutimi.
“My husband stayed back with my son. They’re still in the community. Um, it’s harder for me, like at night because I worry, you know, like, because, like the fire could just turn like things could shift,” said Priscilla Bosum, Oujé-Bougoumou community member.
“Driving away from the community was like really heartbreaking for me because it was like, you know, this is my home, you know? Like, I’ve seen that. I’ve seen the community being built. From, you know, like from nothing to how it is now.”
The forest fire agency — Société de Protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) — says there are 150 active fires in the province, with over 500 firefighters battling them.
Forest fire near Oujé-Bougoumou. (Photo Credit: Hugo Bosum)
So far more than 639,000 hectares have burned, representing the worst fire season on record for Quebec.
The province says no deaths or serious injuries have been reported, and no homes have burned.
“We have today 13,500 people that are being evacuated. We think that it’ll be stable in the next few days first in Chibougamau. People of the SOPFEU were able yesterday with five aircraft to contain the situation at Lebel sur Quevillon,” said Premier Legault on Facebook.
RELATED:
- Wildfire battles continue with heat, air quality alerts over most of Canada
- Quebec wildfires: fierce fight in Normétal, flames within 500 metres of municipality
- South African firefighters sing, dance after touching down in Edmonton
Many drove or were bussed almost 400 km away to the college in Chicoutimi as a temporary shelter.
“I’ve been told that the fire is roughly about 15 kilometers northeast of it’s only if that it has slowed down because it reached a swamp area. But the good news for us, the fire is not big enough for our folks very early on. And water bombers in place. So I think they are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the community,” explained Lance Cooper, Deputy Chief of Oujé-Bougoumou.
“The morale of the community right now, they’re very hopeful. I was speaking to an elder yesterday and I asked her how she was doing and how she felt. And she says, when I left the community and I got on the bus, I did not have any fear.”
Bosum is now staying at her second home in Gatineau, as she awaits the all-clear from officials.
“It was a scary feeling, like, you know, thinking about it like, especially like people’s homes and, you know, all the things that we work for over the years. Like just to think that you know, that fire could take everything. But, you know, like we still have that hope that and we have to believe that we are going to go home to our own homes. But it’s just a matter of waiting and being patient,” she explained.
“My mom and she got evacuated the fault, I think she only slept two or 3 hours and she got evacuated again because of her dialysis treatment. So she was transferred to Montreal. She got evacuated to Montreal because she needs to do her treatment. So it was kind of a relief for me because like being in Gatineau and then Montreal is not far for me to come to check up on them.”
