DETROIT – Several people were hurt after a building explosion occurred on Detroit’s west side.
The incident happened in the area of Schoolcraft and Mansfield Street between Greenfield Road and the Southfield Freeway.
Police told Local 4 that the explosion resulted from a marijuana grow operation.
Officials say the people inside the building were allegedly making THC oil when the explosion happened.
Some neighbors had a front-row view of all the action.
“I just heard a loud boom,” said Tay West. “I looked out, and then I just saw it on fire and a whole bunch of people coming out of it. I don’t know for real. Like, I assumed somebody was hurt. A building is on fire, and you see people coming out, so you assume that they would be hurt or something.”
Detroit Fire Chief James Harris says multiple people were hurt when the flames sparked around 7:20 p.m. You can see some of them in the video player above being treated for their injuries right on the spot.
“We think it may have been an explosion,” said Harris. Five people were transported to the hospital. They are temporary-serious right now.”
Frank Owens also heard that explosion. He said at first, he thought it was the weather.
“We thought it was lightning and thunder because trees were down on the other lot,” said Owens. “They messed up a couple of cars. I heard a loud boom. I seen people run out half naked, with their clothes off.”
While the cause of the fire remains under official investigation, preliminary signs point to something going wrong when THC was being extracted from marijuana for vape cartridges.
Owens was at least satisfied with just how quickly first responders made it to the scene.
“They got here quick, real quick,” Owens said. “We called them. It’s bad what happened to them. Bad situation.”
Local 4 did notice what appeared to be a strong odor of fumes coming from the building. Because of that, fire crews kept pushing Local 4 News crews away from the scene.
