Westland, MI – A natural gas explosion is being listed as the cause of a fire that destroyed a warehouse in Westland on Friday.
We believe it was a natural gas explosion. We are still looking into it. The owner said the gas was shut off, Wayne-Westland Assistant Fire Chief/Fire Marshal Kelly Eggers said. We know the gas wasn’t turned off. We heard the hiss, and there were large flames.
The fire was at 33138 Beechwood near Ford and Farmington Road, an address listed as Motorcycle Tire Center Inc.
There were a lot of tires in there. No one was in the warehouse at the time of the fire, Eggers said. There is an office in a separate building.
The quantity of tires in the warehouse contributed to the fire and the heavy black smoke that came from the building. Firefighters, including mutual aid from Garden City and Inkster, were on scene from 2-11 p.m.
Tires are made from petroleum products. They are extremely combustible, Eggers said. That can be extremely dangerous, and it can be extremely difficult to put out.
The warehouse is a total loss, Eggers said, with the roof collapsing. Detroit Metropolitan Airport firefighters brought a foam truck to the scene.
Once the roof was removed, the foam did a great job of snuffing out the remaining fire, Eggers said.