A massive explosion of a tank storing an oil and brine solution at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground damaged two homes but injured no people.
Fire officials said they had the fire under control within an hour and would launch an investigation into the cause.
At 6:49 a.m. Tuesday, Brighton Fire Authority crews were dispatched to GM’s Proving Ground on the report of an explosion, Michael O’Brian, head of the Brighton Fire Authority, told the Free Press.
“Crews observed a large amount of fire in what we would call a leased area of the test site,” O’Brian said. “There are several natural gas and oil wells located along the test site that are leased to a third party. One of the tanks failed catastrophically and exploded.”
A photo of a fire at General Motors Milford Proving Ground that started around 7 a.m. Tuesday, November 26, 2024.
The oil wells and tanks are not owned or operated by GM. O’Brian said about 20 fire trucks from surrounding departments, including Milford, Highland Township, Lyon Township and Howell, also responded. O’Brian said there are no fire hydrants in the area, so tankers were needed to bring the water.
Two homes about 200 feet away from the explosion were damaged by the blast, along with the tank itself, O’Brian said. But the residents of the houses were not injured.
“There is significant damage to one of the neighboring houses,” O’Brian said. “Every time a tank explodes like that… well, people say they felt it from three or five miles away.”
In a statement emailed to the Free Press around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said the automaker was aware of an incident.
“Thankfully no one was injured and no facilities were damaged,” Kelly said. “We will continue to monitor the situation.”
It took crews about 50 minutes to get the fire under control, O’Brian said.
“Any time we work with a flammable, flammable gas or liquid, we use a lot of foam,” O’Brian said. “We have the fire out at this point, but there are some small fires that we are dealing with because of the natural gas, but we have everything mostly completed.”
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Brighton Fire Authority posted a photo of the fire to its Facebook page around 8 a.m. with the note: “We are currently in Pleasant Valley north of Hyne in Brighton Township for a tank fire. Pleasant Valley Road is closed north of Hyne. “
At 8:50 a.m., O’Brian said Pleasant Valley Road remained closed. O’Brian said the fire department did not yet know the cause, but that the fire marshal will investigate with the well owner.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Learn more about General Motors and sign up for our automotive newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Massive tank explosion at GM Proving Ground in Milford damages homes
