1 dead after massive fire, explosions rock vape warehouse in Michigan

Avatar photoDebra BorchardtMarch 6, 202413min00

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This story was republished with permission from Crain’s Detroit and written by Kurt Nagl.

A 19-year-old man died as the result of a massive fire and explosions Monday night that destroyed a warehouse in Clinton Township stocked with supplies for the vaping industry, Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

A firefighter was also injured as heavy metal canisters inside the warehouse blew up and rained down up to a mile away from the building housing Goo Smoke Shop, a distributor for the vaping industry, and Select Distributors LLC at 19100 15 Mile Road.

Duncan said Goo had more than 100,000 vape pens stored on-site. He said a truckload of butane canisters had arrived within the past week at the building and more than half of that stock was still on site when the fire began.

Select Distributors supplies vaping materials, novelties, electronics, and other merchandise to discount and convenience stores. Duncan said he believed it supplied gas canisters for the local vaping industry for vape pens, along with other products. He said those canisters are believed to have accounted for the explosions that littered a large area with debris.

Later Tuesday, Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon said the business was operating illegally and that prior inspections had not turned up any gas canisters or butane.

“We would have issued violations immediately and worked to get them out of there,” Cannon said during a press conference. “Yes, there are going to be repercussions. People have done things wrong, very wrong, and we don’t like it, and we’re not going to accept it.

Clinton Township Building Superintendent Barry Miller said the Select Distributors location was supposed to supply the Goo retail vape and smoke shop only, not function as a distribution warehouse for the industry.

“This was not in the industrial zone,” Miller said. “It wasn’t meant for this.”

The fire, which broke out shortly before 9 p.m., was contained early Tuesday, though explosions continued into the morning, Duncan said.

The man who died was a bystander hit by a flying canister while he was at a nearby car wash about a quarter-mile away from the fire.

“So tragic,” Duncan said. “It’s something that will stick with you. You never get used to it. You just want to talk to the family and say sorry. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through today.”

Canisters were seen littered about the parking lot of a vacant Kmart store across the street, where fire crews were staged as debris shot from the roaring flames. White smoke and an orange glow could still be seen above the remnants of the building Tuesday morning.

Duncan said 50-60 firefighters and dozens of police officers from surrounding cities converged on the scene.

“This by far was the biggest one I’ve ever seen,” he said of the fire.

Some of the products Select Distributors sells are combustible materials including nitrous oxide tanks to be used as whipped cream dispenser chargers, vaping products and butane for lighters, according to its website.

The business did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Duncan said investigators are still trying to determine a cause after interviewing the business owners Monday night. He indicated that a lack of regulation over the industry could have contributed to unsafe storage of materials. He said the last building inspection was about a year ago.

“Our last inspection did not show this amount of material in that building,” he said.

Tracy Morris, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said certified fire investigators from the agency, along with canines specifically trained in detecting accelerants, arrived at the fire scene early Tuesday. She said the ATF was just beginning its investigation and could provide no immediate information on the fire.

Four employees who were inside the shop Monday night heard “popping sounds” and evacuated the building minutes before it exploded, Duncan told the Macomb Daily. He said hopes internal surveillance cameras give investigators a look at what happened from the inside.

Building owner woes

The 26,700-square-foot building was constructed in 1967 and is owned by GOO LLC, according to Clinton Township property records. GOO LLC is registered to Noor Kestou, according to state business records. The building sold in November 2020 for $1.1 million, according to CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service.

Kestou also owns Select Distributors, which imports goods and sells them to smoke shops and gas stations around metro Detroit. He is also the registered agent for more than half a dozen Select Smoke Shops around the area.

Kestou was a co-owner of Detroit Duck Tours LLC, which appears to have gone defunct last year. Select Distributors is based at 1318 W. Nine Mile Road, the location of Select Wine Shop, according to its 2020 tax return filing to the IRS. A man who answered the phone at the liquor store Tuesday said Kestou is the brother of the owner and not currently at the store.

Kestou has had some financial and legal trouble in recent years. Select Distributors was accused of trademark infringement by Breeze Smoke LLC a few years ago, and in February 2021 an Ann Arbor judge issued a permanent injunction forbidding Kestou or his businesses from using the Breeze mark, according to the case filing.

In July 2021, Select Distributors and SD Import LLC, also owned by Kestou, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Eastern District under subchapter V, reserved for small businesses. The distribution company, which purchased goods from SD Import, at the time listed $1.5 million in inventory and $150,000 in liabilities, with $477,700 of income on $6.8 million in gross sales, according to the filing.

SD Import had sales of about $2 million and an operating loss of $23,805 for the six months ended June 30, 2021. Its largest creditor was China-based e-cigarette and vape pen manufacturer Shenzhen Huaxinyu Technology Co. at $670,000.

The court issued a satisfaction of judgment order in the bankruptcy case in June 2022, records show.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel told Crain’s on Tuesday morning that the county sent air quality inspectors to the scene and that the air quality is safe.

“That’s basically what they were able to determine, that it was more smoke related and there was no real toxic or hazardous chemicals in the air, so that was good news relative to the situation,” he said.

Duncan said it is fortunate that the fire and explosions did not cause more harm to first responders or nearby residents.

“Everybody thought it was ammunition or gunfire at first, but the reality is it was CO2 type of canisters and cartridges that were not only pinging inside the facility as they were being exploded, they were actually leaving the facility,” Hackel said. “Firefighters were taking cover because these canisters were coming out and very dangerous.”

“There was nothing but fireballs,” Jeffrey Korby, who lives near the business, told WXYZ-TV. “I was concerned about getting my kids out of the house.”

Police said the investigation is under the jurisdiction of the local fire department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. An email seeking comment was sent to the bureau.

Kevin Felster told The Detroit News that he was on his way to Clinton Township when he saw the fire and heard the explosions. He said he got out of his car and saw pieces of metal — from the size of a spray can to the size of a car wheel — on the ground.

“It was heavy stuff and it was all charred black,” Felster said. “I guarantee you … if that came flying through the air at any velocity at all, it would just shatter your head like nothing.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Avatar photo

Debra Borchardt

Debra Borchardt is the Co-Founder, and Executive Editor of GMR. She has covered the cannabis industry for several years at Forbes, Seeking Alpha and TheStreet. Prior to becoming a financial journalist, Debra was a Vice President at Bear Stearns where she held a Series 7 and Registered Investment Advisor license. Debra has a Master's degree in Business Journalism from New York University.

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