A total of 38 forest fires were still burning in Quebec on Tuesday, including five that remain out of control. (CBC)

Cooler temperatures and some rainfall are helping firefighters to battle the many forest fires still blazing in Quebec, but there is still much work ahead, according to the province's forest fire prevention agency (SOPFEU).

On Tuesday afternoon, 38 fires were still burning, including five that remained out of control.

The number is down significantly from a few days ago when 60 blazes were burning and 16 of them were out of control.

So far the fires have consumed an area of land two times the size of the island of Montreal, said SOPFEU.

Most of the fires are located in the Haute-Mauricie region in central Quebec

The area received roughly 10 millimetres of rain on Monday and was expected to get an equivalent amount on Tuesday, according to Environment Canada.

But the rain isn't nearly enough to douse the fires, including one massive 60,000-hectare fire, which is located 80 kilometres from the town of La Tuque, said SOPFEU spokeswoman Mélanie Morin.

"We have to realize that that these are quite large fires," said Morin. "It would take months of rain to completely put it out."

More significant rainfall in southern and eastern Quebec has also helped to wash away smoke that clouded the air over much of the province on Monday, said Environment Canada meteorologist René Héroux.

The blanket of smog had extended as far west as Ottawa and as far south as Cape Cod, Mass.

The fire zone is expected to receive more precipitation later this week — but not much, said Héroux.

Wemotaci band council Chief Simon Coocoo says it is too soon to say when members of his community will be able to return home. (CBC)

"At least conditions won't be that dry up north and temperature-wise that will help too," he said. "The temperature won't be that warm, it will be closer to normal."

There was still no word on when 1,300 residents evacuated from the First Nations community of Wemotaci since Thursday would be able to return home.

"I wouldn't dare make a prediction because it could create false hope," said Wemotaci band council Chief Simon Coocoo on Tuesday.

More than 1,300 firefighters are battling the blazes, with 300 of them coming from outside Quebec.

Most of the out-of-province help is from British Columbia, which is supplying more than 190 firefighters.