Clinton Twp. officials: Fire, explosion site shouldn't have had butane, nitrous canisters

The building where a massive fire rocked Clinton Township and neighboring Macomb County communities on Monday that led to explosions causing the death of a teenager and injury to a firefighter wasn't supposed to have butane and nitrous oxide tanks.

Township officials said Tuesday that butane and nitrous oxide, lighter fluid, vape pens, and canisters measuring 12-18 inches and weighing 10-15 pounds exploded during a blaze at Goo Smoke Shop/Select Distributors, 19100 15 Mile Road, a former Save-A-Lot retail and warehouse store.

Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said Tuesday that those who applied for permits for the site "to do something that we thought they were going to do, which was legal, ended up doing something that is clearly not only illegal but immoral and dangerous."

Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said there were two business owners Monday night who were taken to the police department and interviewed by the fire prevention division as well as the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"So, obviously, the scope of this is changing," Duncan said of the investigation.

No one was in custody or charged Tuesday, but township officials said the owner and employees have been cooperative.

Goo LLC, Select Distributors Wholesale, and N & N Group LLC own parcels at the property, according to township property tax records. According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Noor Kestou is listed as the resident agent for Goo, LLC and Select Distributors, LLC. A message was left for Select Distributors, LLC and Goo, LLC. Nabil Kesto in West Bloomfield is listed as the resident agent for N & N Group LLC. Reached by phone, Kesto did not provide an official statement about the incident.

Watch: Dramatic, fiery footage captured from Select Distributors fire in Clinton Township

The cause of the fire is unknown. The investigation at the scene will start once investigators can safely enter the site, which still had burning and smoking debris piles and occasional explosions from containers Tuesday. The site was to be secured with fencing.

"We don't have all the information we need or want," Cannon said.

He said had township officials known the containers of butane and nitrous oxide were in a back room of the building, "we would have issued violations immediately and worked to get them out of there. We can't just walk into somebody's back room. We do have inspections."

Barry Miller, the township's building department superintendent, said when permits were pulled for this location, a storefront called Goo, there was a back room for storage of products to be sold on the floor. At the time of inspection in September 2022, Miller said, there were no canisters.

He said the fire department also inspects quantities. Miller said there are allowable quantities for certain things that can be put in those rooms. Duncan said the fire marshal last inspected in May 2022 and found nothing notable.

"Obviously, with what happened last night, they were well over what would have been allowable for that site," Miller said, adding that no one from the township has been in the building since 2022 to inspect.

Township officials said they knew about vape products there, but not about the butane and nitrous oxide. Miller said there was one prior complaint about duck boats at the location, a violation of site plan usage. A warning was issued, he said, and the boats were removed.

Officials said they were approached in April 2022, by someone to start the certificate of occupancy process for the location. They said they made it clear to the man that retail was a permitted use and the use approved by the planning department was "strictly a retail mercantile use."

The officials did not name any individuals involved. Officials do not know how much product was in the building that should not have been there.

"We really don't know because a lot of it is all around the township right now," Cannon said. "It blew up."

Miller said from a building department standpoint, there is not a yearly check, adding "they're taxed as the owner of the building to follow the rules and regulations they were approved to do." He said the fire department does annual inspections on some industrial buildings, "but this was not an industrial building. It was not in the industrial zoning. It wasn't meant for this."

Duncan said an initial report from Monday night was that "they recently received a semi-load of the butane containers and they had over half of that still left. And they also had pallets of the nitrous and then lighter fluid along with that. And then there were over one hundred thousand vape pens that obviously had the lithium batteries in them."

In addition, Duncan said, there were blades and knives on the site that were flying through the air at the time of the blaze and explosions.

But "without those tanks, you don't have this issue," Duncan said.

'Exploding canisters raining down all around us'

Duncan said officials were notified about the blast at about 8:50 p.m. Monday and four people in the building who heard shaking got out. Responding firefighters felt their trucks shaking as they drove to the scene.

A 19-year-old male bystander from Clinton Township who is believed to have been observing the situation from a car wash about a quarter-mile away at 15 Mile and Beaconsfield was hit in the head by a projectile and later died. Officials did not release his name.

Duncan said firefighter Matt Myers was treated for an injury when a piece of debris came through the windshield and glass clipped him on the side of the face.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said responding police officers and firefighters were "under fire" because shrapnel was being propelled out of the building.

There were "exploding canisters raining down all around us and subjecting multiple staff members to potential peril," Township Police Capt. Anthony Coppola said.

Sarah Cooper, 26, of Fraser, said she and her fiancé woke up hearing a big boom that "shook the whole condo" and saw people standing outside. They went outside and saw "big smoke and this puff of orange."

Cooper said she and her fiancé drove to the area of the fire and could feel the road shaking as they drove. At the scene, she said, there was metal "going everywhere" and flying into the air.

Cooper said the couple returned to the area Tuesday to see the aftermath and found knives, vape pens, scales, and other debris strewn about. She said a person at a business told them he pulled out more than 30 knives that were stuck in the wall of his business.

Cannon said the township's public works is collecting "as much material as they can be to analyzed by the police department at a later date."

Paul Brouwer, the township's emergency management coordinator, said workers were in countless neighborhoods picking up debris from sidewalks, front yards, and streets. He said the debris field was 1 mile across. He said 25 canisters were found embedded in yards, canisters the Michigan State Police bomb squad rendered safe.

Scott Kleinfeld, the township's assistant superintendent of public works, said crews gathered 15 yards of debris from a 2-mile radius. Public Services Director Mary Bednar said there were several businesses affected and debris was in parking lots from Garfield to Gratiot and 14 Mile to 16 Mile.

Cannon said officials also will be reaching out to the state for emergency funding.

"And yes, there are going to be repercussions," he said. "People have done things wrong. Very wrong. We don't like it, and we're not gonna accept it."

What about the air, water?

Brouwer said the air and drinking water are safe and all schools were open Tuesday.

The county's emergency management tested the air quality Monday night, with nothing hazardous, and just smoke, detected just before midnight, Hackel said. He said the air was tested west of Groesbeck as the wind was blowing westerly and semi-northerly Monday night.

What to do with found debris or damage?

Several police and fire trucks, including a ladder truck, were damaged by debris, particularly flat tires from running over metal on the ground, Duncan said.

The ladder truck was repaired and returned to the scene to put out hot spots that developed early Tuesday morning, he said. Crews also were able to clear debris from railroad tracks and reopen them for railroad traffic.

Officials said the debris includes metal canisters of various sizes and other projectiles. Brouwer said they are "very sharp" and should not be handled or moved. He said shrapnel can be put into the trash.

Residents are asked to check their property for debris and damage, particularly the roof of their home or business.

Township Police Chief Dina Caringi said the department's drone unit was to be in the air checking rooftops and was helpful Monday night in locating and directing firefighters to secondary small fires.

Brouwer said Tuesday afternoon that the township declared a local state of emergency, and officials received a call from a representative of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House.

Residents and business owners also can report damage by uploading information and photos to a self-reporting survey at https://arcg.is/10ab1j.

If damage or debris is found, particularly the canisters, call the county's Communications and Technology Center at 586-469-5502. Calls also can be made to Clinton Township Police at 586-493-7800.

"This is not a game," Cannon said. "This is dangerous."

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Clinton Twp. officials: Fire site shouldn't have had butane, nitrous