Published September 2, 2004 Electrical problem caused blaze Spartan Oil fire burned inches from oil tanks By Stefanie Murray Lansing State Journal (ROD SANFORD/Lansing State Journal) Three buildings lost: Damage is surveyed Wednesday in the aftermath of Tuesday's fire at Spartan Oil Corp. in Lansing. Spartan Oil Corp. . Founded: 1953 . Business: Distributes petroleum lubricant products including motor oils to 5,100 customers in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana . Locations: Lansing, Allen Park and Muskegon . Local employees: 70 . 2003 sales: $38 million An electrical problem with a heating unit used to thin oil caused the massive blaze at Lansing's Spartan Oil Corp., which destroyed two of the firm's five buildings and heavily damaged a third, fire officials said Wednesday. The flames came within inches of two of Spartan's 27 on-site oil holding tanks, said president Bruce Maguire III, whose company distributes petroleum lubricants to clients in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. A layer of foam was the only thing that stood between the fire and thousands of gallons of oil. "As bad as this was, it could have been absolutely catastrophic," Lansing Fire Chief Greg Martin said. The oil tanks on Spartan's more than three-acre property at 421 E. Elm St. sit near a residential neighborhood and just south of I-496's bridge over Cedar Street and the Grand River. Fire officials said the problem was "electrical in nature" having to do with a heating unit covering an oil tote. But since it's burned so badly, they can't determine whether it was a malfunction in the unit itself or with the outlet it was plugged in to. All 16 of Lansing's first line rigs responded to the full-alarm fire, Martin said, as well as a crash fire rescue vehicle from Capital City Airport, which supplied much of the foam. Foam also was trucked in from Delta Township. Spartan's 70 local employees reported to work as usual Wednesday, Maguire said, and the company was operating at close to 90 percent capacity. Spartan officials will meet today to hash out a rebuilding plan and take stock of the situation. "We will rebuild here," said Joseph Maguire, who co-owns Spartan with brother Bruce III and their father, Bruce Jr. "We want to keep this a Lansing business." Although Spartan expects to be operating at close to 100 percent capacity by today, the Maguires said some work - but not employees - may be shifted to their other two facilities in Allen Park and Muskegon. Because the company's main warehouse and bulk plant were not damaged, Spartan is able to keep its operations running as usual. The buildings that were destroyed are not vital to the operation, the Maguires said. One of the ruined buildings was a 4,000-square-foot warehouse that stored small totes of motor oil. The second burned structure was a 2,000-square-foot repair facility. Spartan owners initially thought a 1,000-square-foot office building northwest of the blaze was saved, but Joseph Maguire said they realized in the daylight that it had too much water damage. "That's too bad, too, because that building was our original headquarters," he said. "We will have to think of some way to commemorate it." Contact Stefanie Murray at 377-1016 or stamurray@xxxxxxxx