Investigators are investigating the cause of a massive industrial building fire in a Detroit suburb Monday night that sent gas canisters flying into the air, one of which fatally injured a 19-year-old man. He said gas cylinders that should not have been stored at the facility were stored there. had.
In the deadly incident, a massive inferno tore through the facility at 19100 15 Mile Road, and witnesses said butane and nitrous oxide containers shot into the air and hundreds of thousands of people were killed as rain poured down as far as 2 miles away. I heard an explosion occur.
The incident shook the local community of Clinton Township, a charter township in Macomb County, where some residents said they thought they were at war. Fire investigators and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are still investigating the cause of the fire.
The facility is home to Select Distributors, which supplies e-cigarette products and cell phone chargers to liquor stores and gas stations, and a company called Goo, which sells whipped cream chargers in heavy containers.
Massive industrial fire in Michigan causes hundreds of explosions, flying debris and fatalities 1
A man was killed Monday when a fire broke out at an industrial building in Michigan, sending gas canisters into the air. (WJBK)
Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said the building contained containers of butane and nitrous oxide that were not permitted to be stored.
Cannon said the victim, who was not immediately identified, was at a nearby car wash watching the scene when he was struck in the head by a piece of debris. Officials said four employees were inside the building when the fire broke out, but they managed to flee the scene.
“They were not allowed to possess these containers,” Cannon said at a news conference Tuesday.
“If we had known the container was in the back room, we would have immediately issued a violation and worked through the court system to get the container out of there,” Cannon said, adding that the operator will be held accountable. He added that it would be.
Firefighters battle a factory fire in Clinton Township, a Detroit suburb, late Monday. (WXYZ via AP)
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“There will be an impact,” he said. “People have done wrong things, very wrong things, and we don’t like that and we’re not going to accept that.”
Officials said business owners and employees were cooperative.
Mr Cannon warned local residents to stay away from the cylinders scattered around the neighborhood as they still pose an explosion risk.
WXYZ, citing import records, said Select Distributors imported gas cylinders from China in November.
“We recently received half a butane container,” said Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan. “They still had more than half of it left. They had a palate of nitrous and lighter fluid with it.”
Duncan said there were also more than 100,000 vape pens containing lithium batteries in the building, many of which exploded.
One of the gas cylinders hit a 19-year-old man at a nearby car wash, causing a fatal accident. (WJBK)
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“These involve many aspects: storage, what is allowed, how much is allowed,” Duncan said.
The fire broke out around 8:40 p.m., but firefighters were unable to quickly extinguish it due to explosions and dangerous flying debris.
A fire was still burning at the scene Tuesday, and Fox 2 reported that investigators would not be able to access the explosion site until the fire was stopped and firefighters cleared it.
