EAST CHINA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Overnight, fire crews battled a massive fire at a DTE Energy power plant in East China Township in St. Clair County.
The plant provides power to hundreds of thousands of homes, and we were first notified of the fire by a viewer who lives in the area.
See the full story in the video below
Crews were able to put out the fire and there is no threat to the community, but neighbors are still wondering how the fire ignited, what kind of damage it did, and what it means for them.
One resident who lives less than a mile away told me he heard a massive boom and then the night sky became as bright as the day. That's when he said he and his son hopped in his truck and saw the massive fire.
“We heard this thunderous noise. It almost sounded like you were standing next to a jet engine," Patrick Coughlin said.
DTE confirmed that the fire overnight was at the state-of-the-art Blue Water Energy Center, which is classified as an energy-efficient, natural gas and combined-cycle power plant.
Multiple fire crews led by the St. Clair Fire Department responded, and several residents captured video of flames shooting out of the building
Coughlin said he first noticed the fire around 12:45 a.m. Friday.
“We jumped in our truck to find out what was going on and saw the fire and realized there’s fire departments coming in from everywhere," he said.
DTE said the fire was extinguishe around 1:30 a.m. and never posed a public threat.
“You really hope and pray that those valves open and that pressure or whatever is going on over there is working correctly. But, you know, something catastrophic could happen someday," Coughlin said.
The plant opened in 2022, according to DTE, and the plant powers 850,000 residential homes.
