WARREN, Mich. – Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said there was almost a total shutdown of the natural gas system overnight in Macomb County.
Fouts posted on his Facebook page that he was awoken around 12:30 a.m. to an official call that there was a threat of a complete shutoff of all gas power to the city due to a fire at the Consumers Energy facility in Ray Township.
Consumers Energy arranged to have General Motors and Fiat Chrysler shut down for a few days to avoid the dire situation, Fouts said.
Warren police were updated by Macomb emergency management that Consumers Energy gas to 130,000 customers in Warren might have to be cut off at 7 a.m. Thursday.
Fouts said it wasn't just Warren that would have been affected, but all of Metro Detroit.
Macomb County's deputy county executive said officials were looking at worst-case scenarios overnight.
Authorities said it was a real possibility that gas would be cut off in the county from 23 Mile Road to the south, including all of Warren and parts of Oakland County.
When General Motors and Fiat Chrysler agreed to halt production to conserve energy, the crisis of thousands of customers being left in the cold was averted, officials said.
You can watch Shawn Ley's full story in the video posted above.