BARRY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A car dealership in Delton was destroyed in a fire Monday morning.

According to the incident report, Delton Fire Department crews were dispatched to Smith & Doster at 114 N Grove St., north of Orchard Street, around 7:30 a.m. for a fire report. Nobody was inside.

A police officer on scene told News 8 the building was a total loss. It is unclear what caused the fire.

Residents said the front of the destroyed building was once the showroom where vintage cars and a Model T were on display.

M-43/Grove Street is closed between Delton Road and Orchard Street.

The dealership is next door to Delton Kellogg Elementary and not far from the middle and high schools. Jeremy Wright, superintendent of Delton Kellogg Schools, said he noticed the fire after arriving at work nearby and seeing people taking photos.

“I walked around the corner to the school and saw a cloud of black smoke coming out, and when I looked, the building across the street was on fire,” Wright said. “Suddenly about four employees came to me and said, ‘Oh my God, it’s really bad.'”

The students are already in school, Wright said.

“We heard some loud explosions. Then we decided we had to do something to get the kids moving,” he continued.

He said the explosions alarmed some of the children, but he praised his teachers for keeping the children calm and allowing an orderly procession.

“We brought all the elementary students into the middle school gym, got them organized and then came up with a plan of what we were going to do for the rest of the day,” Wright said.

All Delton-Kellogg schools, which serve more than 1,100 students, were closed due to the fire and the smell of smoke, particularly at the elementary school. The students were taken home by bus. There was an adult on each bus who made sure there was someone at home to meet the children. Wright said only one student was not dropped off and the school is working with the family.

Wright assumed that school classes would take place again on Tuesday. Therapy dogs are being used in schools to support students who may have been upset by the fire.

“(The dealership is) basically the central part of town,” Wright said. “Anytime you have a total loss like that, it’s hard on the community and hard on the people.”

The Delton District Library posted on Facebook that it will also be closed on Monday due to the fire.

—News 8’s Elena Cousino contributed to this report.

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