Crews demolish building at site of road buckling in southwest Detroit

Mysterious underground incident under investigation

DETROIT – Detroit’s Chief Operating Officer, Hakim Berry, says so far the city still has no clue what led to a swollen road and building having to be demolished in southwest Detroit because of the ground literally shifting within an hour.

“It was a slow movement of the earth over the course of about an hour or so. Once we get the building torn down and then we can start doing some excavating to see what’s underneath the asphalt here,” said Berry.

It took crews hours to demolish the Stash Detroit Medical Marijuana Dispensary Tuesday.

DTE Energy had to cut the power and repair a gas break to make sure the building came down safely.

But even with multiple residents complaining of a strong gas odor in recent weeks there is still is no evidence of that being the cause of the problem.

“So far, all indications is that again there was no gas explosion or major water breakage here that caused it,” Berry added.

The entire strange turn of events is unlike anything that’s happened here in the city before.

“I think it’s weird. A lot of our experts had said they never seen anything like this and everyone is intrigued to find out what happened. Can’t rule anything out,” Berry said.

Local 4 News has been told the building right next door might also have some significant damage as well.

Crews are looking to see if that building needs to be demolished too.

Original Story: Cause of ‘strong odor’ reported in southwest Detroit under investigation

Read more: Officials repairing Fort Street in Southwest Detroit, investigating cause of road buckling


About the Authors:

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.