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Clinton Fire Department personnel continued to spray water on flames still flaring up Tuesday afternoon after fire destroyed the old Clinton Woolen Mill on Michigan Avenue. Firefighters from at least eight departments were on the scene from about 1 a.m. Monday to 1 a.m. Tuesday, and returned later Tuesday to keep an eye on the smoking wreckage.
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An industrial icon that stood as a Clinton landmark for more than a century fell victim to a spectacular fire Monday.
An estimated 100 firefighters from eight departments in Washtenaw and Lenawee counties, including Manchester, spent 24 hours on the scene at the former Clinton Woolen Mill, an imposing brick structure on the west end of town aside the River Raisin.
"We had pretty much everybody here," said Clinton Fire Capt. Mike Houghton.
The original fire alarm came in at 1:11 a.m. Monday, Houghton said, and Clinton firefighters evacuated tenants in attached apartments before calling for mutual aid.
"There was extremely poor visibility," Houghton said. "We pulled all the units out and it took off on its own."
Aerial ladder units from Adrian, Chelsea, Pittsfield Township and Tecumseh were called in, as well as manpower and equipment from Manchester Township, Onsted, Ridgeway Township and Sand Lake.
"We had 22 firefighters there ourselves," Houghton said. "There were easily 100 firefighters total."
To maintain the large volume of water needed, fire units drafted directly from the river and used multiple hydrants, Houghton said.
The local Salvation Army was on the scene all day Monday to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to fire and police personnel, Houghton said, and the Red Cross came in to take care of five families who were displaced.
Police Chief Mike Randolph said his officers closed the main thoroughfare of US-12 and detoured traffic around the fire scene.
"US-12 was closed pretty much all day and we opened it up at midnight (Tuesday)," he said.
A demolition crew from Detroit was called in Monday afternoon to bring down the remains of the building.
"When the roof caved in, it put pressure on the fourth floor; then that caved in on the third floor," said Clinton Village Manager Kevin Cornish.
"The building inspector, the fire chief and I made the decision to drop part of the third and fourth floors to keep it from falling into the roadway and being a danger to the public, and after that the building owner could see it was a total loss."
Police are interviewing people to determine if foul play was involved.
"The fire marshal and our own fire investigators should be on the scene (Wednesday) to try to determine the origin and cause of fire," Randolph said. "Whether it was arson or not, we really don't know. We're talking to residents to cover things they may have seen."
Although most fire units cleared the scene by 1 a.m. Tuesday, Clinton firefighters returned in the daylight to extinguish stubborn "hot spots" that were smoldering in the rubble.
"We'll probably be here all day (Tuesday), rotating crews in and out just watering things down," Houghton said.
The building was built in 1888, and was rebuilt in 1891 after surviving another fire.
The four-story structure encompassed an estimated 200,000 square feet, and had been used for a number of purposes since its days as a woolen mill.
At the time of the fire, Libbey Owens Ford was using it for storage, a small manufacturing firm leased space in a front corner and the former offices were converted into residential apartments.
"We were able to protect the residential structure," Cornish said. "There was some smoke and water damage, but it doesn't appear to have any fire in there."
The village manager had high praise for the training and professionalism of all the firefighters, regardless of department.
"There are five houses immediately behind the mill, and the Manchester Township Fire Department helped protect those structures from flying embers the size of softballs," he said.
"South of the mill there is Atlas Feed & Grain and they had a fire unit stationed there to keep that from catching fire," Cornish said.
"That could have phenomenally compounded the problem."
Firefighters have been anticipating and training for such an event for years, and when the unfortunate day came, they were well prepared.
"We were preplanning this structure for many years," Houghton said. "It was considered a high-risk structure in town. We would look at it every year, and that paid off pretty well."
Cornish said although the fire lasted a day, the effects likely will be felt for months.
"You hate to see one of the main historical buildings in your community destroyed," he said.
"It will probably take months to clear away the rubble. When they start hauling stuff away it will really disrupt US-12 for a while."
Edward Freundl is a reporter for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 428-8173 or efreundl@heritage.com.
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