5 sent to hospital after fire erupts in Châteauguay plastics factory
Victims were employees of Salerno Plastic Films and Bags who tried to fight the fire
Five people were sent to hospital for smoke inhalation after a plastic bag factory in Châteauguay caught fire overnight.
Firefighters were called to Salerno Plastic Films and Bags just before 1 a.m.
The operations chief for the Châteauguay fire department, Luc Lapointe, said employees working to contain the fire stopped it from moving into the manufacturing area of the building.
It was contained to about 50 square feet in the warehousing area of the building.
"The employees inside tried to put out the fire with the hoses they had and that helped a lot to minimize the fire," Lapointe said.
"But with all the plastic bags and plastic containers the fire spread quickly and did a lot of expensive damage to the building."
He estimates the damage to be around $100,000.
With files from Rebecca Ugolini