Canada prisoners relocated as hundreds flee wildfires

This handout image released by Alberta Wildfire shows smoke columns going in multiple directions due to shifting winds in Fort McMurray Forest Area, Alberta, on May 13, 2024. Evacuations have been ordered in oil-producing Fort McMurray, Alberta on May 14. Authorities have been bracing for another possibly devastating wildfire season, after Canada's worst ever last year that saw flames burning from coast to coast and charring more than 15 million hectares (37 million acres) of land. Photo courtesy of Alberta wildfire / AFP

Wildfires in eastern Canada forced the evacuation of hundreds of people -- including 225 inmates from a maximum security prison, officials said Sunday.

The federal penitentiary in Port-Cartier, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) north of Quebec City, was ordered evacuated along with about 1,000 local residents over the weekend, and 750 workers at a hydroelectric dam in Labrador further north.

In a statement, correctional services commissioner Anne Kelly said the prison was closed and inmates "were successfully moved from the affected area to other secure federal correctional facilities."

The prison has housed some of the nation's most notorious criminals including several serial killers.

A local state of emergency was declared on Friday as wildfires menaced the town of Port-Cartier.

Hundreds of workers at the massive hydroelectric plant in Churchill Falls also remained displaced Sunday after fleeing advancing fires earlier this week.

The plant provides power to the province of Newfoundland, neighboring Quebec and other jurisdictions.

The fire "remains a threat to the community," Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey told a news conference, but it has been "largely contained" to the opposite shores of a river from the plant.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro boss Jennifer Williams said a skeleton crew remained behind to keep the generating plant working.