CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A teenage bystander hit and killed by explosion debris was more than 1,000 feet away from the burning Macomb County building where the debris was coming from.
A massive fire broke out at a Macomb County business late Monday, March 4, triggering a series of explosions that sent shrapnel and other debris flying across the area. The debris field stretched at least a half-mile in each direction, officials said.
One of those flying pieces of debris struck a teenage bystander, who died at the hospital early Tuesday morning. The teenager wasn’t quite outside the burning Clinton Township building located near 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway, however. He was at least a quarter-mile away.
The teen was on 15 Mile Road near a car wash and a service station east of Groesbeck Highway when he was hit in the head by a “projectile.” He was taken to the hospital, where he died at around 4 a.m. Tuesday, March 5.
“Having a civilian just walking the streets and getting hit by something like that is completely unexpected, and I couldn’t think of anything sadder as an outcome for this particular situation,” Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear what type of projectile hit the 19-year-old. During the continuous explosions Monday night, entire canisters, shrapnel, and other debris -- including building materials, like glass, as well as products sold by the business, like knives -- flew from the building.
A firefighter at the scene was injured when debris went through a windshield and hit the side of his face. He was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released soon after.
The explosions were believed to be caused by several canisters of butane, nitrous oxide, and lighter fluid stored in the building. Investigators initially believed a fire started and heated up the containers and the gases, causing a series of explosions to occur Monday night and even into Tuesday morning.
Authorities slammed the business owners Tuesday, saying they were not approved to store such gases in the quantity they did in their back room.
“There are allowable quantities for certain things you can put in [storage] rooms ... obviously with what happened last night, they were well over what would’ve been allowable for that site,” Barry Miller, superintendent of the township’s building department, said during a Tuesday news briefing.
An investigation into the business is underway. The Clinton Township supervisor expects to hold someone accountable for what happened Monday night.
“There are going to be repercussions,” Supervisor Bob Cannon said. “People have done things wrong -- very wrong. We don’t like it and we’re not going to accept it.”
---> More: Illegally storing gases? Macomb County business where fire triggered explosions slammed by officials