Furnace explodes; fire at foundry

NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD) - A furnace exploded at a foundry late Monday afternoon, causing a blaze that firefighters struggled to tame.

The blaze happened at Cannon Muskegon Corp. located on Lincoln Street in Norton Shores.

Security personnel told 24 Hour News 8 that the No. 10 furnace exploded shortly after 5 p.m.

As of 6 p.m., the fire was still burning. The smoke was so thick that firefighters couldn't enter the building to knock down the flames.

Alarms went off after the blast and the building was immediately evacuated. All personnel were accounted for and there were no reported injuries.

"We had a natural gas line fire inside, along with a fire on a propane lift truck that the propane tank was endangered and venting, and then we had molten metal spread throughout the building," said Chief David Purchase from the Norton Shores Fire Department. "So we actually had three different issues along with the issue of accounting for all the employees."

The Norton Shores Police Department has kept the streets around the foundry closed all evening.

Cannon Muskegon Corp is a foundry dealing with metal alloys.