Montreal issues air quality warning from scrapyard fire in east end

MONTREAL — A scrapyard fire in Montreal’s east end has led to preventive lockdowns of all health facilities in the area.

Montreal’s public health department issued an air quality alert after an outdoor vehicle-recycling plant caught fire early this morning near Highway 40.

Anik Vaillancourt with the city’s fire department says 24 fire trucks and 55 firefighters were dispatched to control the fire, which was still burning by 11 a.m.

Quebec’s Environment Department says it thinks the fire was caused by a lithium battery and spread to piles of scrap metal.