MONTREAL -- The fire that broke out on Wednesday in a chemical warehouse in Trois-Rivières may be linked to the heavy rain that fell the previous night.

In a statement released Thursday, Somavrac, the company involved, said an investigation is still ongoing to determine what may have caused the fire in containers of sodium hydrosulfite, which is a bleach used for pulp and paper.

One of the theories under consideration is that heavy rains earlier this week, which caused flooding on Boulevard des Récollets, may have played a role. It's unclear exactly how the rain would have led to the fire.

In all, 15 containers of sodium hydrosulphite appear to have caught fire, according to the company, which said that the damage seemed contained to materials within the plant’s site.

The fire forced the municipality of Trois-Rivières to impose a containment notice in several city sectors. The blaze was finally brought under control overnight Thursday and the containment notice was lifted in the morning.

Environmental emergency teams were deployed to the scene as well as specialists from Quebec’s centre of expertise in environmental analysis, whose mandate is to measure air quality through air samples.

 This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2020.