CHEMICALS IN A PLATING OVEN STARTED BURNING and led to a fire in a Detroit chemical plant that destoyed part of the complex Monday afternoon.
Detroit News / Gibbons
The Diversified Chemical Technologies plant develops and supplies automotive sealants and coatings to the major car manufacturers in Detroit. Their processing plant occupies several buildings and houses hundreds of chemicals. When the FD first arrived on the scene they took the precaution of evacuating the entire factory complex and some surrounding businesses. They also told the nearby residents to stay indoors with their windows closed until later when it was determined that none of the burning chemicals were a health hazard.
Detroit Free Press / Tusa
The Detroit Free Press reported:
Employees at Diversified Chemical Technologies, 15477 Woodrow Wilson, said they tried to use dry chemical fire extinguishers on the oven when the fire started about 2:30 p.m. Monday, Detroit Fire Capt. Steve Varnas said this morning. Detroit firefighters who arrived within five minutes emptied their chemical fire extinguishers, too, but the blaze continued.
“What caused it to start in the oven may never be known,” Varnas said this morning. “But we know where it started. Did they do something wrong or was there a malfunction? There could be a million different reasons. But it’s still under investigation and it’s looking like an accidental fire at this time.”
WJBK-TV Ch. 2 has this video report from the fire scene:
The area involved was a plating process zone and the fire was still smoldering and keeping firefighters busy on Tuesday morning.
WWJ aerial photo from Monday
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