(UnitedVoice.com) – A massive fire broke out in Clinton Township, Michigan, on Monday, March 4. The blaze killed one man and caused hundreds of explosions. The area is being described as a “war zone.”
On Tuesday, Tim Duncan, the chief of the Clinton Township Fire Department, revealed a 19-year-old died the previous night after a projectile from the fire hit him. The fire broke out at 8:40 p.m. in the Detroit suburb at a facility owned by Select Distributors and Goo Smoke Shop.
The warehouse contained nitrous oxide and butane, vape pens, lighter fluid, and canisters that weighed 10-15 pounds and measured 12-18 inches. The containers exploded and shot shrapnel into the air and up to two miles away. Knives and blades that were on the site were also catapulted into the air.
The victim was at a car wash about a quarter-mile away when something struck him in the head. He later died. A firefighter, Matt Myers, was treated for injuries when debris smashed through his windshield and hit him in the face.
The Detroit Free Press reported Township Supervisor Robert Cannon spoke at a press conference and said the butane and nitrous oxide canisters were not at the warehouse legally. He stated the people who applied for permits for the site said they were going to do something else, but “ended up doing something that is clearly not only illegal but immoral and dangerous.”
Responding officers thought they were being fired upon when they arrived at the scene. However, it was just the shrapnel from the fire.
Sarah Cooper, 26, told the newspaper that she was sleeping when the sound of an explosion woke her up. She said she went outside with her fiancé and saw the explosion in the distance. The couple got into their car and drove toward the fire to check it out. Cooper said metal was raining down everywhere. The next day, she went back down to where the fire took place and saw all sorts of objects strewn about. She said a business owner told her he pulled more than 30 knives out of his business’s wall.
The fire is under investigation.
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