Mt. Clemens Underground Explosion Reported!

MacombMonitor · #1 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 04:47 PM

Mt. Clemens, downtown, underground explosion reported! Possibly under a building. Numerous 911 calls coming in, numerous cars on fire, calls going out for additional support. They are evacuating the Court House.

wjf · #2 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacombMonitor

Mt. Clemens, downtown, underground explosion reported! Possibly under a building. Numerous 911 calls coming in, numerous cars on fire, calls going out for additional support. They are evacuating the Court House.

I think it's at Macomb Place and Main.

MacombMonitor · #3 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 04:51 PM

This is confirmed that it is not a drill or a test!

MacombMonitor · #4 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 04:54 PM

My wife works down there! She is OK thank God! She said she sees a lot of smoke, and cops & fire running all over the place. She couldn't talk, as they were evacuating her building as well.

wjf · #5 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wjf

I think it's at Macomb Place and Main.

From my deck I hear tons of sirens - and I'm in Clinton Twp.

Grog · #6 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 05:08 PM

Hope all of you stay safe up there.

MacombMonitor · #7 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 05:14 PM

I haven't heard of any injuries, or rescue request...that's a good thing! The wife thinks the explosion occurred where there are some stores, and shops. On her way home she saw several MSP cars still responding at a high rate of speed.

MacombMonitor · #8 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 05:21 PM

Ch7 News is claiming a car crashed into a power pole and a transformer on the pole exploded, causing a chain reaction of power problems, and underground explosions. Numerous Edison trucks are staged on the scene waiting for the OK to proceed. They showed a man hole cover that blew out of the sidewalk, and burned off a decorative awning above it. Smoke was still coming up from that opening. Maybe underground transformers...possibly Methane gas?

wjf · #9 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacombMonitor

Ch7 News is claiming a car crashed into a power pole and a transformer on the pole exploded, causing a chain reaction of power problems, and underground explosions. Numerous Edison trucks are staged on the scene waiting for the OK to proceed. They showed a man hole cover that blew out of the sidewalk, and burned off a decorative awning above it. Smoke was still coming up from that opening. Maybe underground transformers...possibly Methane gas?

Edison is shutting off the power to the area in a few minutes.

MacombMonitor · #10 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 05:37 PM

Apparently it originated in front of the Emerald Theater, per Fox2News.

MacombMonitor · #11 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 08:27 PM

Anyone know if the County Government buildings will be open tomorrow?

wjf · #12 (**permalink**) 05-03-2006, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacombMonitor

Anyone know if the County Government buildings will be open tomorrow?

According to Fox2 a moment ago, yes.

MacombMonitor · #13 (**permalink**) 05-04-2006, 10:35 AM

Explosions rock Mount Clemens

http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/0...osion001.shtml

gregg22 · #14 (**permalink**) 05-04-2006, 11:29 AM

this happens 3 or 4 times a year in detroit,I guess they are just used to it.as these lines age in royal oak mt clemens and detroit and a few other places it will happen again

kc8bdk · #15 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006, 08:47 PM

From Someone that was 2 blocks away, it was a serious Charlie Foxtrot!! But all agencies once on scene did QUITE well!!

Last time this happened in The Clem was about 8 yrs ago, by the old Macomb Daily building. That time it took the manhole cover about 12 feet in the air.

Edison denies it was caused by the pole accident on North Ave. they said, and I quote "too many people turned on their air conditioners at once" ( read on fox2 website)

This was a classic "cascade failure" one goes, and it just starts going from there... Like the blackout of 2002.

Glad it was only a couple hours as opposed to a couple days!!

garryd451 · #16 (**permalink**) 05-05-2006, 11:01 PM

Yes, it could happen again. AEP(American Electric power) or Indiama Michgian Electric (they switch the name every decade) equipment did this four or five times in a three year period in Downtown South Bend, Indiana. Eventualy AEP put in all new equipment and there hasn't been an explosion since the new equipment was installed!

MacombMonitor · #17 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 12:00 AM

Back in the mid 1980's I worked for General Electric as Technical Support Engineer of Industrial Sales. I had to visit the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit. Underground they had numerous large power transformers that were overheating, and some had actually exploded, and caught fire! I had to inspect them and determine why this was happening, and come up with a solution. It turned out to be rather simple. In the base of the transformer cabinets, they had large cooling fans that drew in cool air off the floor, and directed it up though the transformers. The problem was that these cooling fan motors were vented on each end, to cool themselves. They were sucking up dust bunnies, and clogging the vents, causing the cooling fan motor itself to over heat, and burn out. This stopped the cooling of the transformer, causing them to overheat, and burn up! The fix was to replace the cooling fan motors with one that was sealed, non-vented, with a higher service factor. Problem solved.

MacombMonitor · #18 (**permalink**) 05-06-2006, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kc8bdk

From Someone that was 2 blocks away, it was a serious Charlie Foxtrot!! But all agencies once on scene did QUITE well!!

Last time this happened in The Clem was about 8 yrs ago, by the old Macomb Daily building. That time it took the manhole cover about 12 feet in the air.

Edison denies it was caused by the pole accident on North Ave. they said, and I quote "too many people turned on their air conditioners at once" ( read on fox2 website)

This was a classic "cascade failure" one goes, and it just starts going from there... Like the blackout of 2002.

Glad it was only a couple hours as opposed to a couple days!!

You would think their systems would be designed to cope with that. In fact, I'm quite certain they are. It wasn't even hot that day, maybe warm, and I have to believe the demand was no where near what it's been on a normal HOT summer day. Don't they have a system to purge those tunnels of explosive gas build-up? A normal circuit breaker tripping in an explosive atmosphere could have triggered the event.

Maybe Macomb County installed an "Electric Chair" we don't know about, to solve the overcrowding in the County Jail!

MacombMonitor · #19 (**permalink**) 05-11-2006, 09:26 AM

Cause of blasts is still a mystery
DTE says explosions in Mount Clemens may be result of failed gas line, methane buildup.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...605050350/1014