welding shop explosion pittsfield township

'I didn't know what was going on.'Īnn Arbor Welding is right near U.S. 'We were roofing 200 yards away from there and a big boom - you could feel it,' a witness said. They said they're letting the gas tanks burn themselves off. Pittsfield Township firefighters poured some water on the building, but they said there's not much of a point. The fear was that it would ignite the other much larger tanks around it because they are filled with highly combustible butane, officials said. Authorities said someone looked away while filling a propane tank, and when they looked back, everything was on fire. Officials said the explosion was felt as far as five miles away, and it all started when a propane tank exploded. – A mandatory evacuation was issued Thursday in Pittsfield Township after an explosion at a welding company on Carpenter Road. He says some of the staff told them that when they were opening a couple of tanks, they turned back, heard a pop and saw a spark, and the fire began.PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. Pittsfield Township Fire Captain David Dorian says one large propane is causing most of the problem now. The company supplies industrial specialty high purity and mixed gasses, welding equipment and welding supplies. There were butane, nitrogen, propane, and oxygen in pressurized gas cylinders on site. 'We all ran out front to see if somebody in fact got into an accident, and saw flames.' Several explosions, it sounded almost like a car hit our building,' said Paul Cyr, who works nearby. 'Flames were shooting up - I want to say 60 feet at times.

Schools will be contacting parents for pick up information. Students that attend Ann Arbor Public Schools and live off of Cloverlane Drive in Pittsfield Township will be held at their school and will not be dropped off. It's not known for sure what's inside the tanks.

The fire is happening outdoors in a storage yard near several tanks right now. Police were going door-to-door in the area telling residents to evacuate.

Welding shop explosion pittsfield township