At about 4 a.m. on April 11, 16 workers ran to safety when the building sprinklers went off after a spark flew into a dust collection bin causing a fire inside Bayloff Stamping Plant number 2 on Belleville Road in Van Buren Township.
All of the overnight workers were able to escape the building safely, according to Van Buren Township Fire Chief David McInally.
A filter had a hole in it and a spark got through into the dust bin, Chief McInally said, adding the fire was contained to the machine. The plant was back in operation that afternoon.
Mutual aid was provided by Canton, Romulus, and Ypsilanti Township fire departments.
Belleville Road had to be closed in both directions for a few hours from the heavy amount of smoke but it was reopened just before 6 a.m. No injuries were reported.
Chief McInally said VBT, over the April 9-10 weekend, also fought a garage fire on Dartmoor Circle in Andover Farms subdivision due to a cooking malfunction and another fire in Homestead subdivision off Ecorse Road due to smoking materials.
On Sunday evening, April 10, VBT and Sumpter Township also assisted Belleville Fire Department in a trailer fire on Carmell, with the home being a total loss. Fire fighters left at 2 a.m.
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