Explosive fire at site housing vaping supplies kills one

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MICH.>> A fire that destroyed a building housing supplies for the vaping industry caused multiple explosions, killing one person and injuring a firefighter as the blasts rocked suburban Detroit, sending gas canisters and debris into the air, authorities said.

The debris fell Monday night as far as a mile away, the Clinton Township Police Department said on Facebook. Authorities urged people in the area to stay inside after the explosions began at about 8:50 p.m. The fire was contained by late Monday and the ruins were still smoldering Tuesday, they said.

Joleen Vultaggio said she heard Monday night’s explosions at her home in Sterling Heights, 8 miles away. “It just freaked me out because it wasn’t like one boom, it was continuous and it was very intense,” she told The Detroit News.

White smoke and an orange glow could still be seen above the remnants of the building Tuesday morning in Clinton Township. Earlier, news helicopter videos showed a massive, bright orange area of fire with bursts of flames within the blaze that looked like explosions.

“There was nothing but fireballs,” Jeffrey Korby, who lives near the business, told WXYZTV. “I was concerned about getting my kids out of the house.”

The cause of the fire was not yet known and firefighters had not yet been able to inspect the ruined building because debris was still smoking, making it unsafe, Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said Tuesday.

The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the local fire department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, police said.

Tracy Morris, a spokesperson for the ATF, said certified fire investigators from the agency, along with canines specifically trained in detecting accelerants, arrived at the fire scene early Tuesday. She said the ATF was just beginning its investigation and could provide no immediate information on the fire. There appeared to be no problems with air quality, Duncan said.

Air monitoring by local hazardous materials crews “did not detect anything concerning,” said agency spokesperson Hugh Mcdiarmid Jr.

A 19-year-old man who is believed to have been just observing the fire died after being struck a quarter of a mile away by one of the canisters, Duncan said.