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VIDEO: Floor cleaner sparks massive fire at Buff Whelan in Sterling Heights

Posted at 7:11 PM, Jul 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-21 19:12:45-04

New surveillance video has revealed what really happened minutes before the massive fire at Buff Whelan in Sterling Heights.

What the cleaner said to a 911 operator isn’t adding up to what was caught on camera.

The car dealership decided to release this video Friday saying, “the video speaks for itself.”

Caller: I was scrubbing the floor and I don't know something was leaking gas and it caught fire. I have severe burns on my arm.

Operator: Is the fire still burning?

Caller: I believe so, yes I ran out of the building. There's a car in the shop on fire. Sh** is blowing up I need people here now.

Operator: What exactly were you doing when it caught fire, you said something about the floors?

Caller: I was scrubbing the shop floors and I think there's a gas tank on the ground and I think there was fuel leaking out of it. When I went over it exploded. I didn't mean to go over it cause I knew there was gas. I tried going around it and I must have barely touched it and the thing exploded.

In the video you see the cleaner pass the gas tank the first time, and the second time he knocks it over.
He then tries to pick it up with his bare hands.

He continues to mop the floor as the gas spills into the service drain, and then he cleans over the gas spill.

Investigators have seen the video and say while they believe it was an accident the cleaner should have noticed he spilled gasoline.