Rain in the forecast and the arrival of more foreign reinforcements are raising hopes that Quebec’s more than 7,000 fire evacuees will be able to return home in the coming days, the province’s public security minister said Tuesday.
François Bonnardel told reporters that rain showers and cooler temperatures should be moving into northwestern Quebec, where powerful forest fires have threatened the towns of Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Normétal. The rain should provide some relief to firefighters over the next three or four days — and hopefully bring good news for displaced residents eager to return home, Bonnardel said.
“People want a little hope,” he told reporters Tuesday in Montreal. “I’m going to try to give them some by telling them that with the weather forecasts for the next hours, we should be able to give you good news in the next 24, 48 hours.”…