On Sunday (Oct. 19) a small brush fire ignited in Otter Lake near chemin Milliken, measuring around 0.4 hectares. 

Pontiac North Fire Chief Denis Chaussé said the fire was caused by a tree falling on a power line, which could have been a problem if the weather conditions were different.

“It was not a big deal, but with the wind it was something that might have turned really bad,” he said. 

He explained that they had received a call from the public that someone smelled smoke in the area.

“We don’t do that normally, but because of the fire ban and because of the wind, the gusts were about 35 km/h, we decided to go and investigate,” he said, noting that they discovered the fire near the end of the road by Rte. 301. 

He said 18 firefighters responded and remained on scene for about three hours waiting, as Hydro-Québec crews were busy. He explained that they had to maintain a safe perimeter of roughly 50 feet around the downed line while extinguishing any sparks that blew into the brush. 

Quebec’s forest fire fighting agency SOPFEU was notified, and by 11:30 a.m. Monday had confirmed it to have been extinguished. SOPFEU communications agent Mélanie Morin said Monday that it was too early to tell how much of an impact the recent rain would have on the unusual fall wildfire season, but said it was helpful. 

“It’s definitely going to help,” she said. “The immediate fire risk is going to go down, just because the leaves are wet, the grass is wet, so things will be less flammable.”