Massive Blast in Detroit Felt in Canada

A DTE Energy training facility building damaged by a massive natural gas explosion caused by a car crash in Melvindale early Saturday is a "total loss," according to a company official.

DTE spokesman Scott Simons said Sunday that investigators are still assessing the total damage amount to the company's training facility, which houses a few buildings. Simons said a handful of industrial customers lost power after the explosion, but their service was restored early Sunday.

"The one three-story building that caught fire is a total loss," Simons said, adding that the top three inches of road asphalt near the crash site at Allen Road and Greenfield were smoldered and turned to ash due to the explosion.

The blast that reverberated throughout Melvindale, a 2.8-square-mile Detroit suburb, could be felt as far away as Canada, according to witnesses, and forced an evacuation of nearly 1,500 residents.

Melvindale Police Chief Chad Hayse said a car driven by a 24-year-old man crashed through a fence and into a natural gas main, causing the explosion. Police said only the motorist was injured; investigators said his condition was stable.

Hayse said the man had suffered some burns, but a detective was able to interview him and alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the crash that happened about 2:30 a.m.

Police said Sunday afternoon that investigators are continuing to investigate, but no new information was released.

Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, said Sunday the office has not received a warrant request from Melvindale police in connection with the crash and explosion.

The man, who has not been identified by police, was pulled from his car by a friend who had been following him, Hayse said Saturday. The friend managed to drive away from the immediate area, but someone in a third vehicle, who happened to be nearby, was forced to abandon that car as heat and fire erupted. The friend of the injured driver took the man to a spot away from the blast, but emergency personnel transported the man to the hospital because he was going into shock, Hayse said.

Steven Densmore, an assistant fire chief for the City of Dearborn, which covers Melvindale after the two cities merged fire departments in 2013, said the blaze was thousands of degrees.

Contact Katrease Stafford: 313-223-4759 or [email protected]. Staff writer Eric D. Lawrence contributed to this report.

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