Explosive fire in Clinton Township kills 1, officials investigating possible cause

Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon says whoever’s responsible for Monday’s fire and explosions at a warehouse on 15 Mile Road will face consequences.

Flames erupted before 9 p.m. at the warehouse — which housed a distributor for the vaping industry called Goo — resulting in the ignition of a large amount of butane and other volatile liquids, sending gas canisters and debris far into the air, authorities said. The resulting blasts were so powerful, a projectile hit a 19-year-old man a quarter of a mile away, who died from his head injuries a few hours later.

A firefighter was also injured when one of the canisters struck the windshield of a fire vehicle. The firefighter was believed struck by glass and was treated and released from a hospital, Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said.

As the fire and explosions raged, authorities urged people in the area to stay inside. Officials said the fire was contained by late Monday and the ruins were still smoldering Tuesday.

A business called Select Distributors that Duncan said is “one in the same” as Goo was also operating out of the building and he said he believed it was supplying gas cannisters for the local vaping industry for vape pens, along with other products. He said those cannisters are believed to have accounted for the explosions that littered a large area with debris.

Goo had received a township occupancy permit in September 2022 for the 26,700-square-foot (24,80-square-meter) building as a retail location for a “smoke shop/vape store” that would sell paraphernalia for vape products, said Barry Miller, superintendent for Clinton Township’s Building Department.

But while Goo had asked about getting zoning approval for using the building for warehousing and distribution, the township’s planning department told the company the local zoning only allowed for retail, Miller said.

“Until police and fire perform their investigations we really won’t know the answers,” he said. “They have to find how much product was there, what was there. There’s a lot they’ll have to look into.”

A message and email seeking comment from Goo was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Duncan said he’s working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine the cause of the fire.

“Our last inspection did not show this amount of material in that building, so we’re going to look into that. Some of the reports we’re still looking into is obviously the legality of everything that’s in there,” he said.

According to its website, Select Distributors is a wholesale supplier of novelties, phone accessories and other merchandise to discount stores, dollar stores, wholesalers and other stores. Glass products and nitrous oxide were also advertised on the site.

The business did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Duncan said Tuesday morning that there appeared to be no problems with air quality, aside from the smoke drifting from the fire.

Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy did not have staff on the scene during Monday night’s fire but air monitoring by local hazardous materials crews “did not detect anything concerning,” said agency spokesperson Hugh McDiarmid Jr.

He added that agency staff determined that it does not appear that “any of the materials in the debris field would be hazardous.”

WDET’s Pat Batcheller contributed to this report.