On Fire From Shelby Township Meth Lab Explosion, Man Drives 1 Mile For Shower: Police

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — A fitness center in Shelby Township was evacuated Friday after a man police said had been severely burned in a suspected meth lab explosion in a nearby home hopped in his car and drove more than a mile to the gym, where the burning ran past horrified members to the shower, according to multiple media reports.

The Planet Fitness center near 23 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue in Shelby Township was evacuated amid concerns of contamination, police said. Authorities who responded to the explosion about 3:41 p.m. saw the man fleeing the area and caught up with him at Planet Fitness, according to a press release.

He was taken by ambulance to Troy Beaumont Hospital for treatment of severe burns over much of his body, police said. Severe weather in the area kept helicopter ambulances on the ground, according to reports.

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Deputy Chief Mark Coil told WDIV-TV the man “lit himself on fire” and that witnesses reported he was was still “on fire” when he arrived at Planet Fitness and got out of his car.

People inside the fitness center had to leave their belongings behind during the evacuation and resulting HAZMAT cleanup. Planet Fitness reopened several hours later.

The severely burned man caused a chaotic scene inside the fitness center.

“This guy just started screaming, and I looked and he just started running to the locker room,” Paul Kramer, who was using the fitness center, told WJBK-TV.

“All I basically saw was a guy running in with no shirt, burns, socks and a pair of gym shorts,” another witness told WDIV. “Something didn’t look right. Then we heard him screaming and everybody started running around. (He was) just in pain. You know, burns. I’d be screaming too.”

The owners of the house on the 8000 block of Wiloray Avenue in Shelby Township are renting it to their stepson, who was at work when the explosion occurred, WDIV reported. Police said the man suspected of causing the fire is known to the department and is a friend of someone living in the house. The smoke was so acidic that the homeowner, who lives nearby and saw the fire, was unable to battle it with a fire extinguisher.

The ingredients and materials to cook meth were found inside the man’s vehicle, Coil said.

“This rolling meth lab is highly volatile,” Coil told WJBK. “The chemicals that are used in these situations to cook this type of product are explosive and until we have the experts on scene we don't know what we're dealing with.”

Meth labs are not common in Macomb County, police told WXYZ-TV. A special response team spent hours combing through evidence at the home on Wiloray Avenue.

The man is in stable condition, according to reports. The investigation is continuing, and police are looking for a second suspect.

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