Crews battle Detroit scrapyard fire for hours

Flames tower over Detroit scrap yard fire Wednesday morning

A large blaze spilled into view after sparks set off a scrap yard fire in southwest Detroit Wednesday morning.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A large fire at a scrapyard in Southwest Detroit on Wednesday morning prompted crews from the fire department to respond.

The Detroit Fire Department had the blaze under control, however there are concerns of air quality in the surrounding area and it would take several hours to get the fire under wraps.

What we know:

A scrapyard located near Lonyo and Dix caught fire Wednesday morning, sending flames into the sky and smoke billowing over Southwest Detroit.

The pile consists of various appliances like washers, dryers, and bicycles, as well as miscellaneous scrap metal. Batteries are also part of the pile and could be linked to the cause of the blaze. 

The scrapyard is part of the Ferrous Processing & Trading Co., a local scrap processor with locations around the country.

What we don't know:

The cause of the fire is unknown. 

The Detroit Fire Department also said it could take hours to stamp out the blaze, but that was a rough estimate.

Dig deeper:

An acting chief with DFD told FOX 2 it could take four to five hours to get rid of the fire.

According to Adolf Lane, they had to swap out vehicles and dealt with technical difficulties before making progress on the fire.

"It's a very tall pile of debris and it's very much embedded," he said.