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Oil well explosion rocks GM Proving Grounds
Neighbors were shaken early Tuesday after an explosion at the General Motors proving grounds. GM said in a statement it was aware of the incident and that no one was hurt.
MILFORD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Community members throughout Brighton were rocked by an explosion at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford where the automaker tests its cars and trucks.
A neighbor’s Ring video captured the explosion just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, when Levi Sly was doing his homework just before school. He looked out his window at the General Motors Proving Grounds on the Milford, Brighton Township border.
"The clock above me, like, fell and that there’s like a trashcan above me as well, and it fell on top of me, and then I looked to my right, and through the big window, I see just a giant explosion and the flames went even higher and higher, and it looked like it was coming towards us," said Sly.
Meanwhile, Wendy Sly said the explosion sounded like a bomb had gone off.
"The scare of my life to be honest," she said. "Like a bomb I mean, literally that was what I first thought was a bomb went off. My husband threw on some clothes and went running just to see, and then he saw that it was Proving Grounds," she said.
Luckily, no one was hurt, but it was a big explosion. One local resident said a pipe ended up in his backyard.
GM said in a statement it was aware of the incident and that no one was hurt.
"We are aware of an incident at the Milford Proving Ground involving one of the oil wells located on GM property. Thankfully, no one was injured, and no facilities were damaged. GM fire crews are on the scene and have the incident under control," the statement read. "Local fire departments are standing by if needed. We will continue to monitor the situation."
It's unclear what caused the oil well to catch fire, but reports of a loud boom in Milford were reported in the area.
"It was felt in some cases up to five miles away," said Brighton Fire Department Chief Michael O’Brian. "It looks like some of the equipment failed, which caused a tank explosion."
An investigation is ongoing. Multiple community firefighters worked to put the fire out, which only took about an hour, but water had to be brought in from multiple rigs because there were no fire hydrants near the explosion.
FOX 2 asked if it was possible these tanks could reignite.
"Reignite could be one part, but it’s probably more a failure where the tanks would fail, causing us a bigger issue," said O’Brian. "You know I’m pretty certain that the fire service bill will be in excess of 50-$60,000 for today. It’s all of that? It’s pretty significant, but it’s hard to tell, and it’s all oil equipment type stuff that I couldn’t even tell you."
The chief says whoever is responsible will have to pay for all the emergency personnel at the Proving Grounds.