About 100 firefighters from Rancho Cucamonga and several other agencies initially were called to battle the four-alarm blaze that was reported about 2:10 p.m. at Pacific Coast Recycling, said city fire spokeswoman Kelley Larson.
The fire later was upgraded to a five-alarm blaze and by 10 p.m. at least 25 more firefighters had been dispatched to the scene. The fire was under control late Monday night, but it was not expected to be extinguished for several hours.
``The fire is contained in that it's not going to spread, but it's burning deep in the core of the pile of debris,'' she said.
The five-alarm upgrade was called to provide additional manpower, not due to an increase in the size of the fire, Larson said.
Two security guards were on duty at the plant, which was closed for Memorial Day, when the fire broke out and they tried to douse the flames themselves before calling for help.
Flames engulfed the 25-to-40 foot pile of crushed automobiles that covered an approximately two-acre area and plumes of dark smoke rose from the blaze, Larson said. There were no reports of injuries.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District was monitoring air quality near the plant to determine whether any toxic air pollutants might have been emitted into the air.
``Smoke has thousands of compounds in it and many are known to have adverse health affects,'' said AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood. ``Anyone who may live or work in the vicinity of the fire potentially had a high level of exposure.''
Larson said any indication of toxic smoke would prompt fire officials to evacuate nearby residents.
The nearest apartment complex was a half mile north of the fire. Firefighters also were monitoring a nearby industrial structure located northeast of the blaze to ensure the fire didn't spread, Larson said.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation.
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