Snow-removal truck bursts into flames in Montreal
'I was very scared that there was going to be an explosion,' witness says
A snow-removal truck put to work during the first major snowfall of the season burst into flames in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough on Tuesday.
Alberto Mennillo had just finished clearing a neighbour's driveway shortly before noon on Walkley Avenue between Terrebonne Street and Monkland Avenue when his truck started to smoke.
"My dad called me today to ask if I had booster cables, and he goes, 'Oh and by the way, my truck exploded,'" said Lucio Mennillo.
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Lucio said his father, who runs a plowing and landscaping company, was en route to his second house of the day when he noticed his truck was on fire.
"It burned for about 15 to 20 minutes, then it started to explode," Lucio said.
His father was unsure of why his truck caught fire.
Lucio hopes somebody can lend his father a truck for about a day, because he's concerned he will start losing customers.
"When he saw me today, he started to cry, and my dad doesn't cry." Lucio said.
Andrea Videtic said she saw the burning truck from her living room window.
Videtic saw two workers get out of the truck, and then, "All of a sudden, it turned into a massive amount of flaming everywhere."
"As time progressed, over a period of about 30 minutes, the flames grew and grew and the whole thing became engulfed in flames," she said.
Videtic's daughter, Elizabeth Rampersad, caught the fire on video from inside their home.
Firefighters were at the scene by around 12:30 p.m. to put out the fire.
No one was injured in the incident.