Crews work overnight battling fire at Michigan power plant
ASSOCIATED PRESS
An emergency responder gets transported to the scene of a fire at the DTE Energy St. Clair Power Plant in East China Township, Mich.
EAST CHINA TOWNSHIP, Mich. >> Fire crews were expected to work overnight to extinguish a blaze at a power plant along the St. Clair River, northeast of Detroit .
There were no reports of injuries in the fire, which was reported about 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the DTE Energy St. Clair Power Plant in East China Township. A coal-fired generation unit that produces electricity inside the facility caught fire, the utility said in a statement.
“Employees were evacuated immediately and safely,” Detroit-based DTE Energy said. “At this time, there are no known injuries at the facility. DTE successfully invoked its emergency plant procedures and shut down all other units at the site.”
Firefighters from across St. Clair County were called to the plant as thick, billowing black and gray smoke rose from the burning structure.
Officials said at a news conference late Thursday night that the fire was about 80 percent under control, according to The Times-Herald of Port Huron.
St. Clair Fire Chief Dave Westrick said crews would begin entering the building and looking for hot spots.
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No residential evacuations were immediately ordered, but deputy county emergency manager Ken Cummings told the newspaper a plan was in place if they became necessary.
Roads in the area were closed and traffic was detoured away from the plant.
DTE President Trevor Lauer said the plant is offline but that isn’t expected to impact services.
A noise from the plant caught Mary Buslepp’s attention shortly before she noticed the smoke. Buslepp has lived near the facility about a dozen years.
“They blow the stacks occasionally, but this was unusually loud,” she told The Times-Herald.
The plant has been in service since 1953 and employs 280 workers, according to the newspaper.
DTE Energy said in June that coal-fired units at the plant are among eight at three of its facilities that are slated to be shut down within the next seven years.
The units in East China Township, the River Rouge facility in the Detroit area and the Trenton facility in suburban Detroit are to be retired between 2020 and 2023, DTE Energy said.
