MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – Cleanup has begun at the site of a Clinton Township business that caught fire, caused several explosions and killed a teenager with flying debris in March.
Months after the incident, the EPA began cleaning up the site. And while it’s been a long time since the incident, the EPA crews are being extremely careful with how they handle the cleanup.
The building was illegally storing large quantities of vape supplies when it caught fire on March 4. Thousands of containers of combustible gas that were stored in the building caused continuous explosions. The debris field stretched at least a half-mile in every direction, according to officials.
Read: Debris from Macomb County building explosion includes jagged metal containers, Batarangs
“You don’t know what we’re going to find in there,” said Sean Kane, a scene coordinator with the EPA. “We have to make sure in this building debris, when you have the roof come down and sandwiched -- when we go in, we have to evaluate what the threat level is here? Are there still cans of ultra-refined butane? Are there other things in there that we don’t know about?”
Roughly 4,000 compressed gas cylinders of nitrous oxide, three 55-gallon drums of lithium-ion batteries and 30 intact cans of ultra-refined butane have been sent off for disposal, but crews don’t want anything in the debris to reignite.
On the night of the fire, officers responded to reports of a person injured about a quarter of a mile away from the fire scene. Turner Lee Salter, 19, of Clinton Township, was struck in the head by flying debris and died from his injuries.
The owner of the building is facing manslaughter charges.
Related: Man charged in deadly Macomb County fire, explosions arrested at airport with 1-way ticket to China
“The canisters just zipped over everywhere. At first, we didn’t realize what it was,” said resident Charvy Duckworth. “We thought it was thunder and then, come to find out, it was all these canisters that were there.”
It’s estimated to cost $2.5 million to get everything out and disposed of correctly.
Township Supervisor Bob Cannon says it’s going to look totally different.
“When they’re done, this property will be pristine and it will go for sale and we’ll have something here that we can be proud of again in our community,” Cannon said.
