Human error is believed to have been at the origin of a fire containing hazardous materials that caused a plume of orange smoke in an industrial sector in Montreal’s Lachine district on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident happened around 2 p.m. at the premises of an industrial cleaning company on Norman Street off Highway 20.
“We are talking about a chemical reaction after improper handling. There’s a reaction that was created with the product,” said Marie-Ève Beausoleil, department chief at the Montreal Fire Department.
The product in question is nitric acid. No less than 2800 liters of this product are in the company’s premises.
MAXIME DELAND/QMI AGENCY
“The situation is under control,” Ms Beausoleil said late in the afternoon, still adding that the operation was expected to continue for a few more hours.
“A 1,000-foot square has been completely closed to traffic and all industrial buildings within the perimeter have been evacuated,” she said.
At the end of the afternoon, no injuries were reported as a result of this event.
Several firefighters from the hazardous materials task force were on site to rectify the situation.
Specialists were also called to the scene to carry out air analyzes and ensure that there was no danger to the population.