clinton township, michigan – Authorities were preparing Tuesday morning to provide more information about what happened at a Macomb County business where a massive fire sparked a series of explosions Monday night.
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A fire broke out Monday night at a business and its logistics facility in Macomb County, and a series of explosions of flammable materials continued into Tuesday morning.
Officials were still waiting Tuesday to safely approach and investigate the scene of a now-extinguished fire that tore through a building at 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway in Clinton Township. The building is shared by a company called Goo and a distribution company called Select Distributors, which police say are part of the same organization.
goo calls itself a smoking shop and sells cigarettes and smoking paraphernalia. Select Distributors provides cannabis-related products and equipment to the local cannabis industry, officials said. It is illegal to sell actual marijuana in Clinton Township.
Officials said there was a significant amount of flammable gas in the building shared by Goo and Select Distributors at the time of Monday night's fire and explosion. Details are still being released in the early stages of the investigation, but Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said the facility has “received literally a truckload of butane within the past week.” He said about half of that remained as of Monday night.
“There’s Goo, and they probably have certain products that they sell from there, and then there’s the Select Distributor side, which is supplying gas to local areas for what they do at their distributors. 'Or we sell them the pens and gas that they need to operate this industry,'' Duncan said at a news conference Tuesday.
In addition to truckloads of butane, Duncan said the distribution facility was primarily stocked with butane, nitrous oxide and lighter fluid. The company estimates there were also 100,000 vape pens in the building as of Monday.
Authorities believe the fire started around 9 a.m. on Monday, March 4, before the explosion. Their actual theory was that the fire heated flammable materials, causing a series of explosions that sent containers and other debris a mile away from the facility.
A 19-year-old bystander was reportedly hit by one of the flying canisters. He was hospitalized and died early Tuesday morning, Duncan reported.
Flying debris also injured a firefighter and damaged several emergency vehicles. The firefighter was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was quickly released.
So far, it's unclear whether the business where the fire started was legally storing hazardous materials, but officials had not given any reason to believe otherwise as of Tuesday morning. Duncan said the last time authorities inspected the facility a year ago, there wasn't that much butane stored in the building.
Duncan said investigators are still looking into the legality of everything inside the facility.
“Oftentimes, the industry…doesn't have as much oversight as we should in situations like this,” Duncan said.
The building itself burned for hours, and the fire was visible for miles. Explosions continued amidst the fire from Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Duncan said the explosion happened around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. He expected more explosions on Tuesday, but officials hoped they would be smaller and more contained.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, known as ATF, was assisting with the investigation as of Tuesday morning.
People were asked to avoid the area on Monday and continued to be asked to avoid the area on Tuesday. But Duncan said he did not believe there was a threat to the public as of Tuesday morning.
—> Since last night: Here's everything we know so far about the Macomb County explosions and fires
Officials said the large fire was under control by around 11 p.m. Monday. Once the fire was out, concerns shifted to the air quality in the area as multiple explosions occurred at the facility.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said Monday night: “They understand that some type of carbon dioxide or propane explosion was occurring at the facility, but again, it's not just a fire, it's an ongoing… It was an explosion,” he said.
A hazardous materials team was scheduled to investigate the scene on Tuesday.
The fire was extinguished as of Tuesday morning, but smoke was still billowing from the facility as of about 6:30 a.m., and authorities remain concerned about hot spots that could cause a flare-up.
Most roads in the area reopened to traffic on Tuesday.
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