Thousands Remain Without Power After 'Major Fire' At DTE Plymouth Substation

PLYMOUTH (WWJ) - Crews in Plymouth are trying to get the lights back on for thousands of homes and businesses left in the dark after a substation fire near downtown.

DTE Energy said Thursday morning roughly 4,000 customers are without power. Crews are hooking up a portable power substation and hope to have 40 to 50 percent of those outages restored by late morning.

The fire happened Wednesday night at Farmer and Theodore, adjacent to the Plymouth Community Center and Ice Arena. WWJ Tipster Greg Festian said the fireball was so intense, it ignited a nearby utility pole as well.

No injuries were reported.

DTE's Ryan Stowe, who was part of the overnight repair crew, said they're still trying to figure out what happened.

"We're not sure. With all the variety of equipment and different things we have in there, the potential different ways that failure could occur, different pathways, there's a lot of them," Stowe told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "It will take an analysis from our engineering team to figure that out."

Theodore Street is closed to traffic as crews have equipment located in the street. Drivers in Plymouth should use caution as some traffic signals are not working. Officials say the intersections should be treated as a four-way stops.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest.