MUSKEGON, Mich. — No one was hurt after a large fire sparked at a maintenance shop at a trailer rental company building in Muskegon Wednesday afternoon.
Muskegon Fire Department Deputy Jay Paulson told 13 On Your Side a vehicle caught fire while someone was using a cutting torch in the 1600 block of Messler at Lange Moving & Storage.
Paulson said the man using the cutting torch started to smell smoke, and when he turned around, he saw the whole wall on fire.
A man who lives near the building, named Quentin, was playing basketball when the fire broke out.
He said he heard an explosion like a bomb went off before he saw the fire.
"It was an explosion that happened right there across the street, and everything was engulfed in flames. Before I knew it, I had picked up my phone. I was like, let me get this on Facebook, because this building's been there for a long time. It's kind of a tragedy to watch it go," said Quentin.
Muskegon Professional Firefighters posted to Facebook that the fire was through the roof and caused a partial collapse of the building.
They said they've also received reports that numerous compressed gas cylinders were "off-gassing," which means "volatile organic compounds" are being released from solid materials into the air.
Paulson told 13 ON YOUR SIDE the fire began when welding got out of control.
Investigators said the explosions people heard were from propane tanks blowing up and exploding pockets of gas in the facility. The electricity had to be turned off temporarily because firefighters were spraying water over power lines.
"It's high tension or high current power lines and we're just afraid that maybe that current could go back up if we hit him with our hose or our water streams so it's always a concern of electricity," said Paulson.
No one was injured and everyone was evacuated safely, authorities said.
"There was some general industrial stuff in there, some settling gas and propane, those tanks did blow. Right now it's just mop up. So we are doing good. But right now we have the power shut off to the area and we will have this back once we get done which will hopefully be soon," Paulson said.
Quentin told 13 ON YOUR SIDE that he hopes the building can be restored.
"I hope they can get the building right back to running, and get it back up for the community because there's no telling what they use that building for. I see moving trucks, semi trucks come out through there, but it's such a tragic watch this building go," Quentin said.
A 13 ON YOUR SIDE viewer, Austin Hruskach, sent in the below video where you can see firefighters working to put out the blaze.
Muskegon Professional Firefighters also said they requested help from both Muskegon Heights and Norton Shores fire departments.
13 ON YOUR SIDE has a tower camera aimed at the fire, where you can see white smoke rising from the area.