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A man was arrested Thursday by police from the Sûreté du Québec’s Major Crimes Division in connection with several forest fires that occurred earlier this summer in the Chibougamau area of northern Quebec.
“A meticulous investigation” over the past few weeks made it possible to find the suspect, suspected of having voluntarily started these fires in June.
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Some of these fires led to the evacuation of the municipality as a preventive measure.
The 37-year-old man from Chibougamau, whose identity was not revealed by the SQ, appeared by videoconference at the end of the day at the Roberval courthouse, confirmed Sergeant Valérie Beauchamp of the SQ.
More details should be revealed on Friday on the nature of the charges against him.
Chibougamau Mayor Manon Cyr told Radio-Canada that the suspect allegedly started a series of small fires that were quickly extinguished by firefighters.
According to Quebec’s forest fire agency SOPFEU, 11 wildfires affecting 42.6 hectares were set deliberately in 2023, out of 674 fires and 5.3 million hectares overall. The vast majority of wildfires, affecting 5.26 million of the 5.3 million hectares, were caused by lightning.
Explainer: What is keeping wildfires burning in Quebec?
