By Ann Zaniewski
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Scrappers trying to steal pipes from the tunnels that run underneath the Packard Plant struck a natural gas line Thursday, sparking fires at the sprawling abandoned auto factory, a fire official said.
Fire crews were called just after 4 p.m. to the plant near East Grand Boulevard and Mt. Elliott on Detroit’s east side, said Fire Battalion Chief Steven Kirschner. He said a 1-inch gas line roughly 8 to 10 feet underground had been severed.
“There was a gas line that was ignited, that was like a big blowtorch. The residual gas in the area also caught fire,” causing multiple small fires, he said.
Kirschner said DTE Energy crews used a backhoe to reach a shut-off valve for the line.
“They checked their blueprints of the piping,” he said. “They dug a hole exactly on top of where the shut off value was. ... I’m just overwhelmed by the expertise they showed tonight in locating the line and how fast they were able to dig up it. They went through a foot of concrete and then 4 inches of brick and asphalt and then dirt to get to their valve.”
DTE Energy was called around 4:30 p.m. and got the gas turned off Thursday evening, DTE Energy spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said.
No one was injured.
Kirschner said pieces of cut-up pipes were found at the scene, a telltale sign that scrappers had been there.
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