CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – On March 4, Goo and Select Distributors caught fire Monday night in Macomb County, triggering continuous explosions of combustible material overnight.
Background: Illegally storing gases? Macomb County business where fire triggered explosions slammed by officials
The explosions are believed to be caused by canisters of butane, nitrous oxide, and lighter fluid stored in the building. Investigators initially believed a fire started and heated the containers and the gases, causing a series of explosions, which launched scrap two miles from the building. A teenager standing roughly 1,500 feet from the building was killed after being struck by debris.
Read: Debris from Macomb County building explosion includes jagged metal containers, Batarangs
More than two weeks after the incident, the remains of the building look as it did just after the explosions -- and many wonder what’s happening with the investigation.
Investigators typically move in a day or two after the fire, but two weeks later, there’s no sign of them, and they likely won’t be on the scene for another two weeks.
Now that the situation has literally cooled down, it looks frozen in time -- yellow police tape flaps in the wind and the Burger King next door is still closed. A Clinton Township police officer is assigned daily to keep people away and insurance companies have hired their own security to do the same. The site has a specialized dumpster that is used to contain any threatening explosive canisters.
“We don’t know what’s underneath so we have to have specialized equipment, specialized people who know how to handle that equipment because we don’t know what’s there,” said Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon.
City, state and federal investigators recently agreed to join insurance company inspectors on April 3-4 to find out what happened.
“A big part of this is getting everybody who will investigate here at the same time when they move the steel rods in there so everyone sees the same thing,” Cannon said.
Hundreds of people came out to see the explosive blaze on March 4. Turner Lee Salter, 19, came out with his siblings and mother, unaware of the danger the shrapnel posed.
Read: Teen killed by explosion debris was 1,000 feet from burning Macomb County business
“She was the one that got the police’s attention to start CPR,” said Pastor Tim Berlin of Faith Baptist Church. “It certainly was very, very difficult for her.
Turner’s parents are school teachers. Their community, along with the church and Clinton Township itself, came together to support the family.
“He was just a kind young man, and very thoughtful, hard-working, very responsible,” Berlin said. “I mean he was the type, he ran the camera at our church.”
The damages are estimated to cost millions of dollars. Cannon said the city intends to recoup all the expenses incurred during the ordeal.
