According to fire officials, a canister that flew into the air from the blast struck and killed a 19-year-old who was a quarter mile away from a fiery explosion in Michigan.
Butane containers caught fire Monday night at a vaping distribution company in Clinton Township, roughly 25 miles outside of Detroit, according to the Clinton Township Fire Department.
According to officials, the vape company just got a semi-load of butane containers, and more than half of them remained at the plant as of Monday night. According to officials, the company also contained pallets of nitrous and lighter fluid, as well as over 100,000 vape pens containing lithium batteries.
Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan described the blaze as a “tremendous amount of fire.”
“In my 25 years, this was by far the largest one that I’ve ever seen,” Duncan told reporters Tuesday morning.
Officials reported that the blast rattled cars up to two miles away.
According to officials, the blast threw debris into the air, including blades. According to officials, the debris field stretched for half a mile in either direction.
One firefighter was injured in the blast when “a piece of debris went through the windshield and clipped him on the side of his face,” according to Clinton Township Emergency Management Coordinator Paul Brouwer.
Brouwer confirmed that the firefighter was treated and released from the hospital.
The blasts made it impossible for responders to reach the fire right away, according to the Clinton Fire Department. When cops arrived on scene, they discovered “materials flying in all directions from the building,” according to officials.
Clinton Township police issued a warning Monday night: “We cannot stress enough the danger that is occurring right now. Please remain indoors and away from the area. Debris is being launched into the air and falling as far as a mile from the explosion.”
According to the authorities, residents and businesses in the neighborhood have been evacuated.
At a press conference, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel expressed his condolences to the 19-year-old’s family, friends, and loved ones as well as to the entire community for their loss.
“Just walking the streets and getting hit by something like that was completely unexpected,” Hackel added. “And I couldn’t think of anything sadder as an outcome for this particular situation.”
Hackel added, “If you notice something that appears to be alarming to you, please do not touch or pick it up. When in doubt, call us, and we’ll look into it to ensure that no one else is injured.”
The owners and employees of the businesses involved in the explosion have been “very cooperative” and “honest” with the investigation, according to officials. The police are still questioning the owner and staff members to figure out what happened.
According to officials, the store passed inspection in May 2022 and received its certificate of occupancy in September 2022.
The store had a backroom for product storage, and “at the time of inspection there, there were no canisters,” Clinton Township building inspector Barry Miller stated. “There are permissible quantities for specific items that can be placed in particular rooms; they did not exceed any of those limits. Obviously, what happened last night exceeded what would have been acceptable for that site.”
“Nobody from the township has been in that building for the purpose of inspections,” Miller said.
Investigators stated that they are attempting to ascertain the quantity of canisters and other goods on-site in order to discover whether any codes were breached.
