By early Saturday, September 26, morning, firefighters had extinguished a massive fire at a southwest Michigan plastics factory and power ended up restored to those who experienced outages.
The city of South Haven said that it, South Haven Area Emergency Services and neighboring fire and public safety departments got the call to an industrial fire Friday afternoon at East Jordan Plastics, located on Stevie Drive, near the Lake Michigan shoreline in Van Buren County.
The city also said no one suffered an injury, and they restored power “as quickly as possible” ― at 10:30 p.m. Friday.
The blaze started outside the facility, in pallets of plastic, according to South Haven Area Emergency Services. It caused explosions that threw tanks hundreds of feet in the air.
Additionally, the fire caused mass power outages and led to South Haven Public Schools canceling all Homecoming festivities. South Haven fire officials said it took four hours to fully contain the fire.
South Haven Area Emergency Services Chief Brandon Hinz reported that during the incident, the “right decisions to protect human life and prevent additional damage” were taken, the city said.
Black smoke billows over the East Jordan Plastics facility in Van Buren County, Michigan,
Source: Brad Umbanhowar USA Today
That included depowering a nearby electrical plant connected to power lines impacted by the fire and detouring traffic away from the scene.
“I simply can’t say enough about every person, department, community member and business that supported us as we responded to this fire,” Hinz said.
East Jordan Plastics manufactures plastic horticultural containers, including plant pots, trays, flats, inserts and propagation trays used by greenhouses, nurseries and garden centers, according to the company’s website. The company also recycles used horticultural plastics into material for new containers.