Update: Clinton Township, MI, Officials Say Deadly Blast Occurred at Illegal Warehouse
Daily Tribune, Royal Oak, Mich.
(TNS)
Mar. 5—Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon said during a Tuesday morning press conference a business near 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway that caught fire and exploded Monday night was illegally operating a warehouse.
"They should not have had any canisters of nitrous oxide on the premises at all," Cannon said. "It isn't that they had an excessive amount; they shouldn't have had any of those items there."
Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan confirmed the Select Distributors location was supposed to be the Goo retail vape and smoke shop only, not a distribution warehouse for the industry.
"The fact that it was a distribution center was unknown to us," Duncan said. "The vaping products they had were legal, but they should not have had any of the butane and nitrous oxide tanks at all."
The Select Distributors website describes the business as a wholesale supplier of novelty and smoke shop items and lists tanks of nitrous oxide, butane, torches and batteries among the many offerings available.
Duncan said the butane tanks ranged from 12 x 3 inches to 18 x 6 inches in size, adding it had been about a year since the property had been inspected by the township. The building previously operated as a discount grocery store.
"There is an investigation going on right now as we are standing here," said Cannon. "There are going to be repercussions."
Cannon stopped short of saying there would be criminal charges in connection with the incident but implied that on some level, the law was not followed and that the offending parties would be held responsible.
"People have done things wrong — very wrong — and we don't like it and we are not going to accept it," Cannon said.
He added as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday no one was in custody, but people associated with the facility were being questioned in connection with the incident.
The fire started just before 9 p.m. Monday and caused several explosions that sent shrapnel into the air. Duncan said the shrapnel, including nitrous oxide tanks, caused significant property damage in the area and advised residents who see a canister on the ground not to touch it but to contact his department at 586-469-5502.
A flying tank is also blamed for the one fatality, a 19-year-old male who was at a nearby car wash when he was struck in the head by a canister. He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead around 4 a.m. Tuesday, according to officials.
Duncan said he did not expect investigators would be able to begin searching the scene of the fire until at least Wednesday morning because it was still too dangerous for anyone to be on the premises.
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