Residents of the Suroît region will need to stay hydrated for the next few hours, as the Beauharnois-Salaberry and Vaudreuil-Soulanges areas are subject to a special weather bulletin and a ban on open fires. 

Weather forecaster Environment Canada warns that the warm air mass that has been blanketing southern Quebec for the past few days will persist until Thursday morning. Maximum temperatures will be between 30 and 32 degrees Celsius, with humidex values between 35 and 38 on Wednesday.

In addition, Wednesday night will be hot, with minimum temperatures hovering around 20 degrees Celsius, offering little respite.

Heat can affect anyone's health. We recommend drinking plenty of water on a regular basis, even before you feel thirsty, to reduce the risk of dehydration. Thirst is not a good indicator of dehydration.

It's also advisable to reduce heat-related risks. For example, by organizing outdoor activities during the coolest hours of the day.People who find themselves in an overheated space should seek a cool spot, such as the shade of trees, a water fountain, a cooling station or an air-conditioned area such as a public building. Finally, never leave people, especially children, or animals in a parked vehicle.

No open fires 

In the same vein, the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts will be banning open fires in or near the forest as of 8 a.m. on June 4, due to current conditions.This decision was made in collaboration with the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU).

On its website, the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) states that fire danger is very high on Tuesday, June 4, and has been raised to extreme in the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield area for Wednesday, June 5. 

Fire danger is an assessment of the flammability of forest fuels (twigs, roots, trees, etc.) and dry grasses.It is derived from observations over the last few days, weather forecasts for the next few days, and the fire history of previous years.Based on readings from 194 weather stations, this data enables us to predict the forest's ignition potential, as well as its fire behavior.

When fire danger is very high, the risk of a high-intensity fire with partial or complete ignition of the crowns is high, as conditions at the front are beyond the capacity of ground crews. It is therefore advisable to build fires only in facilities equipped with a regulation spark arrester.

When the index rises to the extreme level, it means that the risk of a high-intensity crown fire, which spreads at high speed and can become uncontrollable, is high.Fires should therefore be avoided. 

Last week, the region's fire department issued a reminder not to throw cigarette butts into flower pots or flower beds, due to the high risk of fire.
Statistics 

Since the start of the protection season, 134 fires have been set, affecting 145.1 hectares (ha) of forest, 81% of which are attributable to human activity.

In 2023, 566 fires occurred in the province.

The causes were as follows: 

- Lightning: 243; 

- Railroad: 6; 

- Forestry operations: 13;

- Industrial operations: 59; 

- Fire: 17;

- Residents: 113;

- Recreation: 106;

- Miscellaneous: 9. 

Here is the number of hectares and areas affected by each cause: 

- Lightning:1,071,351.9; 

- Railroad: 1.2;  

- Forestry operations: 20.4;

- Industrial operations: 143.4; 

- Fire: 962.0; 

- Residents: 117.3; 

- Recreation: 816.2; 

- Miscellaneous: 21.2. 

Total: 1,073,433.6.