Monday evening, at the Port of Montreal, a fire broke out in a container that was storing 15,000 kilograms of lithium batteries. The city issued a lockdown notice at 7:06 PM. Residents of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough were told that it was “important to stay indoors, close doors, windows and ventilation systems for (their) safety.” The notice remained in effect until 10:57 PM when they ended the lockdown, assuring the public it was issued as a “precaution,” that the fire was now “under control,” even though the “operation could still take a few more hours,” and that “tests (had) confirmed that any danger to public health and safety (had) been ruled out.”
