Port of Montreal container fire brought under control

A fire in a container at one of the Port of Montreal's terminals prompted the city to issue a containment notice for the area adjacent to the port on Monday evening, in the Mercier--Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

A fire in a container at one of the Port of Montreal's terminals prompted the city to issue a containment notice for the area adjacent to the port on Monday evening, in the Mercier--Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

The situation was back to normal by Tuesday morning.

The precautionary lockdown notice, which had been put in place in the early evening, was lifted at around 10:30 p.m.

On its Facebook page, the City of Montreal said that the fire was now under control.

Although the response could still take a few hours, the tests carried out confirm that no toxic substances have been detected in the smoke plume. "There is no longer any danger to the health and safety of the public," the city's post stated.

During the night of Monday to Tuesday, Montreal firefighters (SIM) continued their operations and were finally able to tackle the inside of the container, which contained batteries.

On Tuesday morning, the SIM reported that there was almost no smoke at the scene. The SIM is now awaiting the arrival of a specialist clean-up team to take charge of the batteries.