The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) is investigating a fire that destroyed two forestry machines on Sunday in an area near the Grandbois Lakes Forest in the Mauricie region.

The machines were on a forest road outside the perimeter of the Grandbois Lakes Forest at the time of the fires.

The Grandbois Lakes Forest has been in the headlines regularly in recent weeks because the area is the subject of a proposed protected area and because the Quebec government has authorized logging to build a winter forest road.

There has been a strong movement opposing the cutting of the 200-year-old trees, and now, on Sunday, two of the operator’s machines were set on fire.

“When I arrived, the fire was still burning […],” said a forestry worker interviewed by Noovo Info in the forest.

The Sûreté du Québec was notified of the crimes around 10:15 a.m. on Sunday. An SQ fire investigation specialist was dispatched to the scene. According to investigators, these are most likely cases of arson.

The two burned-out machines are worth between $600,000 and $1 million.

The owner declined to comment on camera to Noovo Info, but did say that it was becoming increasingly difficult to work in the forestry sector.

The citizens’ group campaigning for the protection of the Grands Bois forest claims to have no connection to the fires and condemns these actions, which it describes as “violent.”

Via mass media
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