Troy, MI – Troy Officials suspect that a natural gas leak was responsible for a fire and explosion that occurred at a Kroger supermarket late Monday night.
Damages were minimal and no one was injured in the incident, which occurred at about 10 p.m. at the Kroger store located at 31 E. Long Lake in the Sunset Shopping Plaza.
According to Assistant Fire Chief/Fire Marshal Dave Roberts, the fire and explosion were confined to the rear portion of the building.
Firefighters were called to the building when the store’s automatic sprinkler system activated, which also aided in extinguishing the blaze.
“The fire was quickly extinguished and firefighters then began checking the store, and adjacent stores, for any damages from the explosion,” Roberts said in a press release. “None was found. The damage was confined to the loading dock area of the Kroger store itself.”
Store employees stated they had smelled gas earlier and had notified Consumers Energy, which advised the store manager to evacuate the building.
Technicians from Consumers arrived to investigate the odor at which time the explosion occurred, damaging the store’s exterior doors, north wall and a portion of the roof area.
The store was empty at the time of the explosion. Firefighters remained on scene as crews from Consumers shut off gas to building.
A crew from DTE Energy Co. also shut off electricity to the store, which is currently closed but is expected to reopen soon.