AUBURN HILLS (WWJ) - Fire crews from across Oakland County have doused massive blaze, following an hours-long fight in Auburn Hills.
Numerous tipsters are called the WWJ Newsroom Tuesday to report seeing billowing clouds of smoke from the freeway -- with flames shooting as high as 30 to 50 feet in the air.
The fire was burning at US Farathane located at 2700 High Meadow Circle, in the area of I-75 and University. "I don't know if you just heard that explosion there," WWJ's Mike Campbell reported from the scene after 11 a.m. "But something just exploded."
Police Lt. Ryan Gagnon said some storage containers were on fire outside the plastics facility. While the plant itself was not engulfed, police said minor heat damage was done to the south side of the building structure.
The plant was evacuated. No injuries were reported.
"Initially it looks like it started in a dumpster which contained cardboard," Gagnon told Campbell and other reporters. "And then it then caught fire to basically storage stacks, plastic storage stacks that contained cardboard."
"Fortunately at this point in time there's no toxic materials other than melting plastic -- which, you know, is not good to breathe in," Gagnon added. "But the smoke is going straight up into the air to the southeast. There's no other forms of hazardous material stored in these containers in the back."
Smoke and flames were seen from as far away as Detroit as the fire burned long into the afternoon.
Traffic was backed up along I-75 in the area as drivers slowed or stopped to gawk or take pictures.
"This black smoke is black as black can be," said tipster Bob Carlson, who was driving by.
The incident was elevated to a 2nd alarm which brought in additional fire personnel and resources from Waterford Regional, Rochester Hills, City of Rochester, Oakland Township, and Troy Fire Departments, while Auburn Hills police provided traffic direction and assisted at the scene.
It was estimated that 20,000 storage bins were involved, according to police, who said the City of Rochester FD's drone helped drastically in identifying hot spots in extinguishing the fire.
Officials with the City of Auburn Hills said in a tweet that there were "no toxic chemical issues."
The cause of the fire, which was out by around 4:30 p.m., is still unknown. The city said Farathane is conducting an investigation alongside local authorities.