General Motors is investigating the cause of a vehicle fire inside an engineering lab on GM’s Milford Proving Grounds as well as cleaning it up to ensure it’s safe for employees to return later this week.
The fire started about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, said Brighton Area Fire Authority Chief Mike O’Brian and confirmed by GM.
O’Brian said GM’s fire brigade, which is a team of trained emergency personnel that patrol corporate campuses, noticed smoke in a building and called 911. Brighton and Milford firefighters responded to the call.
Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire because the building’s sprinkler system had already largely put it out, O’Brian said.
“It was a vehicle that started the fire,” O’Brian said. “How it started? We don’t know that. That’s under investigation. There were no injuries. There was smoke throughout the structure and we worked with GM to get the smoke evacuated.”
GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal said it was a “development vehicle” that caught fire, but neither she nor O’Brian would say whether it was an electric vehicle or internal combustion engine.
“The fire was contained to the vehicle in question and appears to be related to the 12V system,” Raynal said in a statement Monday. “Only minor damage to the garage where the vehicle was parked was reported and there are no injuries. Crews are currently cleaning the facility due to smoke damage, working to contain the smell, and inspecting the facility to ensure it is safe for employees to return later this week.”
Raynal said the investigation is still underway so GM declined to make further comment.
While O’Brian declined to disclose the vehicle identity, he told WWJ-AM (950) on Sunday that there are new hazards connected with the development of EVs.
“You’re gonna see a lot more events that when there’s a fire involving an electrified vehicle or an energy stored system,” O’Brian told WWJ. “You’re going to see a lot more protection of the exposures in allowing the fire event to burn itself out or to consume itself.”
Around this time last year, a Lordstown Motors Endurance all-electric pickup prototype caught fire in Farmington Hills while on a test drive. No one was injured but the vehicle exploded into flames and was destroyed.
Lordstown Motors, headquartered in northeast Ohio, has a research and development office in Farmington Hills. The company said the fire was the result of human error in building the prototype.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.