OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A massive gas line fire is burning in Orion Township near the border of Auburn Hills, officials said.
Authorities said the fire involves a high-pressure gas main. When there's a high-pressure gas main leak, it causes a loud roar that comes out of the gas line, and it normally doesn't burn because there's so much pressure behind the gas that it can't burn through the force and air pressure.
But it appears this time, it has actually caught on fire. Gigantic flames are lapping up into the air. There are bowls of flame burning out over time. Fire equipment is scattered everywhere as officials try to attack the flames.
Officials confirmed it is a Consumers Energy main that caught fire.
"All I can tell you right now is that we did notice that there was a pressure drop on our natural gas system indicating that there was an issue somewhere," said Debra Dodd, of Consumers Energy. "We do have crews on site, but obviously with the amount of the flames, we can't get very near right now. Our first priority is to keep the public and our customers safe."
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office said all of its 911 lines are down as a result of the fire.
Officials are asking residents to avoid the area until the fire is out. The fire has died down, but there are still huge flames. There is bumper-to-bumper traffic congesting the nearby roads, and police have shut down the area.
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"We have alarms on our system that indicate if pressure drops below a certain point, and that's what we noticed earlier tonight," Dodd said. "Some crews are there, and additional crews are coming."
Brown Road is shut down between Joslyn and Baldwin roads due to the fire.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office said the fire is on the north side of Brown Road, just west of Joslyn Road. It's impacting the area around Great Lakes Crossing mall, which is across I-75 from the fire.
Officials from the Orion Township Fire Department and Consumers Energy are at the scene.
"I don't know how we're going to -- we may be able to turn some valves and turn the flow of gas off, and that would obviously, you know, give the source of ignition a chance to die out," Dodd said. "But at this point, I'm not quite sure how we're going to go about that. We are trying to figure that out right now."
Dodd said as far as she knows, the fire is only burning on their system.