4K Homes Without Power In Plymouth After Fire

(UPDATED) PLYMOUTH, MI — Most Plymouth residents — as many as 4,000 households — remain without power Thursday morning after a DTE substation caught fire behind the Plymouth Cultural Center near Farmer and Theodore Streets Wednesday night. Plymouth City Manager Paul Sincock said the fire started at about 8:30 p.m. An exact cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined, he said.

Crews from DTE Energy are on site and are working on making a portable power substation operational, Sincock said. DTE expects to have some power restored later Thursday morning, he said. No timeline for complete power restoration is available.

Theodore Street is closed to traffic. Plymouth officials warned drivers to use caution around town because some traffic signals are not working at intersections. Plymouth City Hall opened for business as usual at 8 a.m. The Plymouth Cultural Center was set to open around 10 a.m., but would like just be used as a cooling center on Thursday, Sincock said.

He said the building suffered minor damage from the heat of the fire. Sincock praised DTE for its quick response to the incident.

“They have been phenomenal,” he said. “They were here last night staging equipment.”

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Firefighters from the city of Northville, Plymouth and Northville townships responded to the scene, the Detroit News reported. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

The extent of damage caused by the Plymouth fire is unknown, but the Detroit Free Press reported that power lines above the substation were damaged as well as the substation itself.

Photos courtesy of the Northville City Fire Department