A ruptured gas line caused a massive explosion and fire in an area of Orion Township near the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets mall on Monday night.
A ruptured gas line caused an explosion and massive fire that left an 18-foot-deep crater in an area of Orion Township near the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets mall on Monday night, authorities say.
A fire was reported shortly after 9:52 p.m., when Consumers Energy noticed a drop in pressure on its gas system, the energy company said in a news release.
Orion Township fire personnel received a 911 call from someone nearby who said there was a gas leak and it sounded like a jet engine, township supervisor Chris Barnett said.
Barnett said that they’ve had gas main breaks before but nothing of this magnitude. He said the fire — which occurred in an area north of Brown Road near Joslyn Road, near the border with Auburn Hills — had flames 100- to 150-feet wide and up to 200-feet high. The flames could be seen from downtown Detroit, more than 30 miles away.
“The good news is this is an area that’s soon-to-be developed but not developed yet,” Barnett said, adding that the only items near the main break were equipment including flatbed trailers. A Menards store is being developed on the north side of Brown Road, Barnett said.
Residents in the area who were ordered to evacuate their homes were able to return early Tuesday morning, Auburn Hills Police reported on its Twitter account.
Consumers Energy said that the cause of the eruption and fire is under investigation. What officials do know is that a 22-inch diameter steel transmission line ruptured, and that the fire burned itself out after the flow of gas was cut off on either end of a seven-mile section of the transmission line.The gas was shut off by 11:10 p.m. and the fire was out sometime after midnight or 1 a.m., Consumers Energy spokesperson Roger Morgenstern said.
Detroit Free Press – Hasan Dudar and John Wesley – 11.21.2017
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
So the fire started about 9:52, the gas wasn’t turned off* until 11:10, and it continued to burn for bout 2 more hours–until about 1 am.
* at a 7 mile section . The ACP valves would be 20 miles, wouldn’t they?
and it was a 22″ pipe, not 42″ like the ACP