225 prisoners from Quebec Prison are evacuated by Canadian officials due to a wildfire threat

Because of the increasing flames, 225 prisoners from Quebec’s maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution have been evacuated by Canadian authorities.

A statement from the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) on Sunday stated that 225 prisoners had to be evacuated from the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution in Quebec owing to the increasing number of forest fires in the area.

On Friday, the Port-Cartier Institution was placed under evacuation, and its prisoners were sent to other safe federal prisons. The relocation’s specifics were kept under wraps. “In order to execute the evacuation, we implemented strategies in collaboration with our partners to uphold the safety and security of our personnel, the general public, and the criminals under our supervision and control,” the CSC said in a press release.

According to a SOPFEU assessment released on Friday, lightning ignited seven fires north of Port-Cartier, two of which were out-of-control. The federal government is forecasting another hotter-than-average summer, even if the current wildfire season in Canada hasn’t been as catastrophic as the record-breaking 2023 season, which saw more than 15 million hectares destroyed.

The CSC stated that work is being done to ascertain when it will be safe to reopen the Port-Cartier Institution, and that the emergency situation remains unabated.