Crews continue to battle Chute-des-Passes wildfire as dozens of forest fires burn across Quebec

By Spencer Van Dyk
CBC News
June 23, 2020
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, Canada East

The Chute-des-Passes forest fire, still burning out of control, has reached the chalet that’s been in Steve Ratthé’s family for 27 years, and he doesn’t know whether the chalet is still standing. According to Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency, SOPFEU, by midday Tuesday, the fire raging north of Lac Saint-Jean in the Saguenay region was burning over about 62,000 hectares — or an area the size of the island of Montreal, plus about half of Laval. Ratthé has been closely monitoring SOPFEU’s fire maps to keep an eye on his chalet, which stood right across the lake from the fire. “Every five minutes there is a change on the maps,” Ratthé told Radio-Canada. “Until we see it, we won’t know.” He left the chalet June 14 and doesn’t know what he will find once he’s allowed to return.

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