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The video above is a compilation of fires in Detroit from FirePhoto.CA that occurred last Friday. While watching it I found the second fire, starting at 1:16 on the clip interesting. The fire is at 3:00 AM in the 3300 block of E. Hancock Street in the first battalion. From what I can tell via the limited view of the camera and no outside information, it appears at some point the application of water on the fire ceases and you hear talk of letting it collapse.
I am not sure if this has anything to do with Commissioner Donald Austin’s budget cutting proposal last month of letting vacant structures, 50 percent or more involved, burn to the ground. Commissioner Austin also looked at the tactic as a form of urban renewal and an issue of firefighter safety.
In a previous post today, WJBK-TV reporter Charlie LeDuff chides Commissioner Austin about the idea of letting vacant structures burn.
This not meant as a commentary on Commissioner Austin’s policy or LeDuff’s position. Just an observation after seeing the video.
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Also on STATter911 …
- Detroit Fire Commissioner proposes letting vacant buildings 50% involved burn to the ground. Donald Austin asked to make cut in next year’s budget. – April 22, 2012
- UPDATE – Belgian firefighter says TV reporter wrong that they paid $2K each for Detroit FD ride-along/training. LeDuff rains on critically acclaimed ‘Burn’ local premiere. – September 29, 2012
- Trust me, this is Must See TV: Detroit Deputy Commisioner Fred Wheeler has to be bleeped & knocks microphone out of Charlie Leduff’s hand after reporter tours city firehouses. – May 30, 2012
- ‘When seconds count, we’re only minutes away’. TV reporter Charlie LeDuff gives a status update on the Detroit Fire Department. – January 22, 2013
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It probably is by looking at the Video. Obviously it seems as though their was time to search the “D” side exposure before allowing it to burn.
You have to ask; Was the building “Sound” for occupancy in the near future? or was it a case of no floor and a basement “Through the Door to the Floor”?
Or was it as I watched the case of a 50 plus year old building that was abandoned and destroyed to reduce the next unnecessary fire response n which someone could be hurt responding to it or at scene.
It was just one of several thousand unoccupied structures in Detroit.
Check out the You Tube Video; “Detroit Burning”. 50 minutes of
reality in the DFD 2011.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/24/11376348-detroit-may-let-abandoned-buildings-burn-film-documents-firefighters-tough-times?lite
Min 8:30, E-34′s D.O. sportin’ Fire Ball gloves!!!
Detroit Firefighters your in for some long nights waiting for them to burn down. strike da box k
How the story in Detroit isn’t being cried out about in outrage is beyond me. The amount of fire they’re running on a daily basis is beyond what’s believable. It’s hard to make civilians even understand what they’re going through. How do you equate the amount of fire they’re running?
Imagine if an NFL game was 200 quarters long.
Imagine if a Nascar race lasted 7 days.
Imagine if a burger at McDonalds was 400 dollars?
I just can’t figure out how to make people understand how ridiculous it is in Detroit right now, and how the Fire Service isn’t banding together to get these guys some help is unreal.
Something’s gotta be done to help these guys.
Signed,
“Busy” City Fireman
My personal view is to let it burn. A city as broke financially as Detroit can’t afford to be responding to trash fires all the time.
What about sending some squads out on ember patrol and releasing units if there is a working fire and no exposures. Unforunately Detroid is way understaffed, just like the rest of the nation and having a full battalion responding to these fires means that the rest of the city will suffer..
I agree, over 50%, gone. Protect exposures, leave. We’re in a financial depression, and the nation’s elite has made it clear of their intentions. The wealth distribution that’s taking place has to have consequences. You want more tax cuts for the corporations and wealthy, services will be reduced.
I am a 13 yr veteran of the Detroit Fire Department and am vehemently AGAINST “letting it burn”. It is not our job to decide which fire we are going to put out. We’re paid to put them ALL out…safely. There are only two firefighting tactics in our S.O.P’s, offensive and defensive. “Let it burn” is something that someone (not the Commissioner alone) concocted. I don’t like responding to vacant house fires any more than the next guy, but IT’S OUR JOB! We need to do what the citizens are paying US to do. They pay someone else to decide what stands and what falls. Not to mention that “letting it burn” needlessly ties up a company or two while waiting for the structure, many of which are brick, to burn to the ground. Senseless…