Eight Pontiac wildfires extinguished, risk persists
Tashi Farmilo
Local Journalism Initiative
Published in the Pontiac Journal on Aug 27, 2025.
MRC PONTIAC – The Pontiac’s wildfire season has been active to date, with the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) recording eight fires in the region from early July through mid-August. All have been extinguished. Together they burned about 5.6 hectares. No injuries were reported and no homes or other structures were lost. Activity was clustered around Campbell’s Bay, Otter Lake, Lac Annie, Thorne, Lac Nilgaut, Waltham and the Deep River sector.
The largest blaze, Fire 201 near Thorne, burned 3.2 hectares. SOPFEU records attribute the cause to a discarded cigarette butt. Water bombers were deployed on the first day to hold the perimeter, then ground crews spent three days soaking and digging through hot spots until the fire was cold.
Philippe Bergeron, Prevention and Communications Advisor at SOPFEU, said the Pontiac fires were “really small” compared to previous years and not the kind that crown through the canopy, but they can smoulder underground. “At this time of the year, the fires don’t spread as easily, but they burn deeply,” he said. “So it takes responders a lot of water and a lot of digging to get them out.” That persistence matters, he added, because “you have to control them before they have an opportunity to get bigger.”
Weather both helped and hindered. Cooler nights and morning dew limited spread, while heat and dry spells made suppression harder. SOPFEU maintained its preparedness at level two while monitoring fire danger that moved between low and high depending on day and place in western Quebec.
Bergeron emphasized that the season is still ongoing and vigilance is essential.
He urged residents and cottagers to remain cautious, check the daily index before
lighting anything outdoors, follow restrictions, and “check with your municipality.”
Published in the Pontiac Journal on Aug 13, 2025.
