Quebecers in California cloistered at home due to historic forest fires are considering the worst as lightning could strike again in the coming days and cause more blazes.
For the first time in 21 years, Louison Labeaume is preparing to evacuate his home in an emergency.
“If I have to go, I just like knowing that I am leaving nothing behind that is really close to my heart,” explains the younger brother of the mayor of Quebec, Régis Labeaume.
From the window of his house in the eastern San Francisco Bay area, the adopted Californian sees hills covered in yellow hay.
“This is all fuel. It’s dry and ready to burn, ”he worries, especially since new thunderstorms are expected by Tuesday.
In total, more than 119,000 people have already had to leave their homes since the start of the forest fires, which started after a series of thunderstorms that hit California with more than 12,000 lightning bolts.
These fires have killed at least five people.
On Saturday, the blazes continued to ravage northern California, favored by climatic conditions which are expected to deteriorate.
The US meteorological service, the National Weather Service, has warned that “lightning is likely to cause new fires in the region, including in remote areas” in the coming days.
Smoke from the fires can be seen for miles around in the upstate, affecting air quality for several days.
In San Jose, southeast of San Francisco, the air quality index hit 225 last Friday.
photo-source position-absolute" itemprop="copyrightHolder"> Courteous photo
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Christian Plante, a native of Quebec, no longer leaves his home in San Jose because of the poor air quality caused by the fires.
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“At 100-150, it’s unpleasant, but beyond 200, you stay inside without asking questions,” says Christian Plante, who has lived in California for 20 years.
Same scenario in Palo Alto, where Louis Draper did not plan to go outside for more than five minutes on Saturday due to the pollution from the blazes.
In the Sacramento region, a film of ash covered all exterior surfaces on Saturday morning, testifies Josée Savard.
The fire closest to her home, the LNU Lightning Complex, yet burns more than 50 km away. It is now the second most devastating fire in California history, with more than 127,000 hectares destroyed.
“We have the fires. We have COVID. We don’t have an earthquake right now, but that’s all we need, ”says Draper.
– With Agence France-Presse
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