Probe underway of fire at industrial plant in Roseville, Michigan
The investigation of a blast that sparked chaos at an industrial building in Roseville, Michigan, continues.
Roseville Fire Chief Keith Jacobs says this investigation has many moving parts, and multiple agencies are involved, including the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). They're working to figure out what caused the fire at RCO Engineering.
Smoke filled the sky on Tuesday after the industrial plant caught fire. Community members are still shocked.
"There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and then that went up, and it just looked like it was complete cloud-covered, all the way around this corner. It was pretty intense," said Brandon Steele, who works a few doors down.
A temporary shelter-in-place warning was issued because hazardous chemicals may have been swept up by the wind. That advisory was lifted on Tuesday as the air quality was deemed safe. The plant, however, was destroyed.
"I was not inside that building, but I am working currently with a couple people that were," said RCO Engineering employee David Mingle.
Mingle works in the company's building next door.
"The guys that work in the building, they're pretty shaken because it happened in front of some of them. One of the workers that I'm working with right now was about 10 feet away, he said, from when the fire initially started. He said he heard like a little pop type of explosion, and that caught their attention originally, and then a few seconds later, there was another explosion that sent about 15-foot flames," Mingle said.
The blast caused the roof of the 20,000 square foot building to collapse. No employees or first responders were hurt.
On Tuesday, emergency response crews were on site to assist with the cleanup. They tell CBS News Detroit they've boarded up and secured the building, moved all hazardous materials from the ground to containers on the property, and they're working with fire investigators to comb through the rubble to help move the investigation forward.
Mingle said none of his teammates were laid off, only moved to different locations.
"The people that were in the building and were directly affected with the building were able to come over to other buildings and still work. They're going to do everything they possibly can to get this place back up and running," said Mingle.
EGLE says they're checking the water downstream to see if there is any runoff from the incident. In an update Tuesday evening, EGLE says some debris has been found near a storm sewer south of 13 Mile Road and east of Gratiot Avenue, but emergency response crews are collecting it.
CBS News Detroit has also contacted the EPA about the status of its response efforts. They say EGLE is taking the lead on cleanup.
Stay with CBS News Detroit as this story develops.
