Oil Storage Tank Catches Fire During Demolition Process

Oil Storage Tank Catches Fire During Demolition Process
(Crystal A. Proxmire, July 23, 2016)
Ferndale, MI – For years a cluster of oil storage tanks locked behind a wall and a tall fence sat seemingly ignored.  They’d long ago been drained and cleaned.  Yet only recently did a small crew begin doing demolition work on the site, which is located at Burdette and E. Lewiston right along the railroad tracks.
The work involved cutting apart the story metal cylinders with torches, so the pieces could be hauled away for recycling. This work led to a tank catching on fire Saturday morning.  According to Jim Hewines, owner of Huntington Machinery, sparks from a torch being used to slice through the metal likely caught the insulation on fire.
Hewines said that he had been hired to clean up the property, but that he loved the location so much he decided to buy it for his demolition business.  Hewines walked down the muddy path between storage tanks lined with mounds of debris, talking about how the tanks will come out and how his business will grow in their place.
“It looks like a lot of work,” he said, “but this is what we do everyday.”
As far as the fire, Hewines was unconcerned. “We almost had it out ourselves,” he said, most likely in jest. “We have buckets with water.”  He said the fire was not very big, and that the fire department put it out quickly.
With the work site sufficiently drenched by the Ferndale Fire Department, the pair of men went back to work cutting apart the tank.
Check out previous stories about fires at https://oaklandcounty115.com/?s=fire.
  
 

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