A fire broke out Friday evening at the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda. No one was injured, according to firefighters.
Posted at 8:45 p.m.
Emergency services received a call around 5:50 p.m. following a “spill of molten metal that spread to the building,” said the director of the city’s fire safety service, Stéphane Royer.
The flames reached the roof, but “the first attack was successful, the flames quickly went down”, he explained. Thirty firefighters were mobilized and the fire was already considered under control around 8:30 p.m.
Everything indicates that the causes of the blaze are accidental, said Mr. Royer, who did not find any suspicious element. Other than employees working near the area, the fire did not require evacuation.
Cindy Caouette, a spokeswoman for Glencore, the multinational owner of the smelter, said it was still too early on Friday evening to assess the consequences of the events on site activities.
An internal investigation will be carried out in the coming days to measure the extent of the damage and the causes of the accident, she added.