Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Firefighters continue their battle against a blaze at an industrial business in Roseville that left two of their own injured.
The fire at National Precast in the 33000 block of Little Mack was reported by a passerby about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to Fire Chief Mike Holland. It’s unclear what caused the fire, and no one was inside the multi-story building at the time.
The injured firefighters are expected to be OK. One suffered a minor finger injury, and the other hurt his foot in a ladder accident that required five stitches. That firefighter was taken to McLaren Macomb hospital in Mt. Clemens.
Conditions below 0 overnight complicated the task, but Holland said equipment had continued to work and the biggest challenge was keeping firefighters warm.
Despite getting the three-alarm blaze under control about 4 a.m., the fire has remained trapped between floors and Holland said flames will be visible again as they tackle the remainder.
“We’re going to have to pull apart part of the building,” he said, before an excavator rolled to the building and began ripping into the front.
Firefighters from a slew of departments — Roseville, St. Clair Shores, Mt. Clemens, Harrison Township, Clinton Township, Eastpointe, Center Line, Warren, Fraser and Sterling Heights — assisted.
Little Mack in the area has been coated in ice, and is expected to remain closed between 12 Mile and just south of 13 Mile for hours.
National Precast employs about 30 people and makes architectural and precast concrete walls. It’s a family-owned business with a second facility in Shelby Township, according to President and CEO Amedeo Piccinini, who is also one of four owners.
He said the business opened in the 1970s and then shut down in 2010 during the financial crisis but had reopened in 2012.
Piccinini noted that the fire appeared to have been contained to the office area, sparing the production area.
“There structure there isn’t going anywhere,” he said, indicating the building. “We’ll be back on our feet shortly.”
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