A forest fire that had been burning for three weeks north of Chisasibi was finally contained with Mother Nature’s help.
Heavy rains helped to stamp out the fire, and the water bombers helped to keep it away from the community.
When most of the fire was extinguished, the firefighters were able to move in on foot, and effectively put it out.
The fire was started by lightning in an area known as Goose Bay. It was approximately 20 kilometres long, and 3 kilometres wide.
It never got that close to Chisasibi, according to the Chief firefighter, Archie Moar. But if it had, there is an evacuation plan in place that would see those with breathing problems, and the elders evacuated first, followed by women, children, and lastly, the men.
The reason it didn’t make its way towards Chisasibi is because “the wind was on our side,” according to Moar. “It helped to keep the fire away, we were always upwind from the fire.”
Moar thinks that the drastic change of weather in the past 10 years has something to do with it. The temperature is consistently in the 30s. This is something that concerns him but he knows he can’t do anything about it.
