Fires, smoke in Cree territory make for scary travel - Action News
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Fires, smoke in Cree territory make for scary travel

We lived through this terrifying and traumatic experience on the Billy Diamond Highway, wrote Joshua Paul Iserhoff on Facebook.

Highways and access roads closed to several communities, several stranded

Smoke billows from a fire with a road through the middle.
Emergency shelters have been set up as several people, including many Cree, have been stranded as a result of thick smoke and fires in several areas of northern Quebec. Billy Diamond Highway and access roads to several Cree communities are closed. (Submitted by Ryan Erless)

Ground travel in and out of the Cree territory in northern Quebec has effectively ground to a halt, as fires and smoke have closed several community access roads and major routes in many parts of northern Quebec Cree territory.

The airport was closed on Tuesday and internet service was out in Waskaganish.

The Billy Diamond Highway a major route connecting most of the Cree communities to each other and to the south is closed from kilometre 6 to kilometre 590. The Route Transtaga in northern Qubec, a gravel road which connects Hydro-Qubec installations between theBrisaygenerating stationand Radisson, is closed east of kilometre 44;and the Route de nord is closed at kilometres 300 and 407.

The access roads to Eastmain, Waskaganish and Wemindji are also closed with visibility down to almost nothing.

The conditions made for harrowing experiences for many travellers trying to get home or around the territory.

Flames on the side of the road from a moving pickup
A traveler along the Waskaganish access road on Monday. Convoys were organized into some Cree communities since Sunday (Facebook)

"We lived through this terrifying and traumatic experience [Monday] on the Billy Diamond Highway," wrote Joshua Paul Iserhoff on Facebook.

Iserhoff and his wife and two children were trying to make their way to Nemaska from Montreal, where they attend school.

They travelled the last leg of their trip Monday from Val d'Or. Conditions were so bad and the smoke so thick, they gave up and turned around.

Skies suddenly darkened

"From blue skies to suddenly darkened, billowed, thick smoke. The gusts of winds were ferocious, unrelenting and indeed something we'd never experienced or seen." wrote Iserhoff, who is now in Barraute, southeast of Amos.

A family smile at the camera
Joshua Paul Iserhoff, centre and his wife and two children were travelling home to Nemaska from Montreal. (submitted by Joshua Paul Iserhoff)

Iserhoff's sister Fawn was in a car behind theirs. For a long, terrifying time, they were unable to see her headlights. Iserhoff said both he and his wife prayed very intensely, and after more than an hour, they finally received a call from her when she was in a place with cell service.

"We hugged and cried under the rain we are safe, but this traumatic experience is still very much raw," wroteIserhoff.

Betty Tomatuk was travelling to Eastmain on the access road when she came up against a wall of thick smoke.

'Scary experience'

"It was a scary experience," wrote Tomatuk on Facebook.

"Stay safe everyone and follow the directions of our fire department," she said.

an orange sky darkens because of fire
Betty Tomatuk shared this photo of a frightening trip along the access road to the Cree community of Eastmain on Monday. (Submitted by Betty Tomatuk )

Jason Coonishish is the co-ordinator of emergency services with the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay.

He worked with the Wemindji emergency team to plan a convoy for those heading up north earlier this week.

"The first task was to look for that window when it would be best to travel. It was set at midnight. It was very smoky with a lot of dust. All the vehicles had their hazard lights on," said Coonishish in Cree.

A cree man in a baseball hat looks at the camera.
Jason Coonishish, CBHSSJB Coordinator of Pre-Hospital and Emergency Measures. (T.Philiptchenko/CBHSSJB)

He said there was about a 15-kilometrestretch driven with fire visible along the Billy Diamond Highway.

"Convoys are safer because they are carefully organized. Anything can happen, someone can have a flat tire. If a person's vehicle breaks down, they can just hop on the next vehicle," he said.

Coonishish said that since June 2, there have been many convoys in Cree territory, with the biggest from Chibougamau, when residents from Ouj-bougoumou and Chibougamau were evacuated.

Nemaska announced on Tuesday in the afternoon that it is doing a partial evacuation, sending elders and vulnerable people to Quebec City.

Stranded travelers

Bertha Blackned was trying to return to Waskaganish after a hockey tournament in Gatineau over the weekend.

She, her daughters and two-month-old granddaughter decided not to risk travelling further and stayed in Amos on Sunday night. On Monday, they had to move to another hotel, and as of Tuesday at noon, they didn't have a place to stay Tuesday night.

"We don't have a room. We tried to book another room for tonight, but there are no more rooms," said Blackned.

Her two sons are back home in Waskaganish and texted about how the thick the smoke is inside the house.

"I'm kind of worried. They are 19 and 25, but I'm still worried about them," she said, adding she told them to close the windows and block the air conditioner.

Emergency shelters have been set up in Matagamiat the municipal arena, in Pikogan at the gymnasium of thecole Migwanand at kilometre 381, a service centre along the Billy Diamond highway.

With files from Marjorie Kitty and Betsy Longchap