ROSEVILLE, Mich. – A shelter-in-place order has been lifted in Roseville after a large building fire.
The fire started Tuesday morning (April 22) at a building on 12 Mile Road, between Hayes Road and Groesbeck Highway.
Tuesday evening, the area remains hazy and blocked off by police tape.
The fire happened at RCO Engineering, a product development and manufacturing company specializing in the automotive, aerospace and defense industries. The company released a statement confirming that they are okay and are cooperating with the investigation.
The fire raised enough concern that nearby neighborhoods were advised to shelter in place for part of the afternoon due to the risk of chemicals in the smoke plume. This order has since been lifted.
“We did send a hazmat team out, and we conducted air quality sampling. We never picked up anything of concern in the air,” said Brandon Lewis, the Emergency Management Director for Macomb County.
While the smoke is still present, officials noted that it can be irritating for certain individuals, especially those with respiratory conditions. Residents sensitive to it are advised to continue avoiding the area or stay indoors.
Macomb County Emergency Management Director Brandon Lewis said members of the hazmat team used special technology to assess the air quality.
“They actually have specialized equipment that can detect substances of concern in the air,” Lewis said. “So they placed one near the scene of the fire, they placed one a couple thousand feet downwind from the fire, and then a little further than that.”
Once the results were in, Lewis said the shelter-in-place order was lifted.
“At no point did the hazmat team ever detect a substance of concern in the air,” Lewis said.
A few Roseville residents with respiratory issues told Local 4 about how this impacted them.
“I have asthma, so I coughed a little bit more,” Scott Tryanowski said. “It was irritating a little bit.”
“As soon as I could get home, get out of the mess I did,” resident Larry Holser said.
Holser just underwent a double lung transplant.
“I got two new lungs, I’m not going to trash them,” Holser said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
▶️ Watch: 25+ minutes of aerial video showing Roseville fire
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