A fire sparked by a lithium-ion battery at a building on Welland Avenue at the same time the former Standard building downtown was ablaze had St. Catharines firefighters working with all hands on deck this weekend.

Fire Chief Dave Upper said off-duty firefighters had already been called in for assistance because of the downtown structure fire when the call came in for the second fire at 3:15 a.m. Saturday.

That fire was at a health building at 437 Welland Ave. and caused an estimated $1 million in damage. It was determined a lithium-ion battery was the cause.

“Cooking is still the No. 1 cause of fires — unintended cooking — but lithium-ion batteries are definitely challenging for the No. 1 spot,” Upper told city council Monday night, when asked about the incident.

Upper took the opport

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