Quebec lifts open fire ban, reports no active blazes in key zone
QUÉBEC – Quebec's Public Security Department says it has lifted its open fire ban in or near forests and says there no active fires in the intensive protection zone.
Authorities say the decision to lift the ban was taken in conjunction with the province's forest fire protection agency, known as SOPFEU.
Since the beginning of the forest fire season, the province has reported 104 blazes affecting more than a square kilometre of forest in the zone where fire protection resources are deployed systematically.
By comparison, the 10-year average on the same date is 195 fires and about 2.5 square kilometres burned.
Fire danger indicators had reached extreme levels in several parts of the province, but periods of rain in the forecast should bring those indicators down.
The province says the ban was lifted as of Friday evening.
The conditions in Quebec have allowed the province to deploy two CL-415 firefighting aircraft and their crews to Saskatchewan and two others to Ontario.
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The fire protection agency says it has also sent a Navajo PA31 twin-engined aircraft equipped with a VeriMap infrared detection system to help with the Ontario blazes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2025.
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