Major fire 'under control' at Quebec steel recycling plant east of Montreal

Firefighters were busy tackling a major fire at a steel recycling plant in Contrecoeur, Que., roughly 65 kilometres east of Montreal, on Sunday morning.

City spokesperson Sylvain Latour said the fire broke out in a salvage yard at the ArcelorMittal plant at around 4:30 a.m.

It is not yet known what caused the blaze, but Latour said it was the hulk or shell of old vehicles that caught fire. 

As the fire burned, a large plume of dark smoke could be seen billowing up into the sky, raising fears of possible contamination.

However, during a news conference around 11:30 a.m., the city's mayor, Maud Allaire, said the fire was under control and that there was no danger to the population.

"We understand that car carcasses have plastic and tires," Allaire said, "But there is no toxicity in the plume according to [Quebec's Environment Ministry]."

As such, she said, no emergency measures need to be enacted. 

"No confinement, no evacuations, and no need to close windows or ventilation systems," Allaire said.

Earlier in the day, the city was asking residents to avoid the industrial sector and stay indoors if nearby.

It was also recommending that people close their windows and turn off any ventilation systems should the smoke reach their area.

Allaire said the directive to avoid the industrial sector was being maintained to allow fire crews to do their work. 

She said that even though the blaze was under control, it would take the better part of the day to make sure it was completely extinguished. 

Neighbouring communities along the Richelieu River were also on high alert Sunday morning, due to winds pushing the plume of smoke in their direction.

Allaire said she'd received word there was no danger for those communities either.

There were no reports of injury and the fire did not disrupt operations at the plant, Allaire said.

An investigation is being carried out to determine the cause of the fire.