Mystery: Fires break out in 7 houses on 1 block in Detroit

Like too many of Detroit’s neighborhood streets, Curt is losing its battle with blight and abandonment.

Over an eight-day period this month, the east-side street was hammered by seven house fires on a single block between Maxwell and Van Dyke. Investigators aren’t sure what caused the blazes, some of which broke out in occupied homes.

The fires, between Dec. 11-18, also exposed the miserable condition of the city’s aging fleet of fire rigs, which are breaking down at an alarming rate and leaving firefighters ill-equipped to handle emergencies.

Executive Commissioner Edsel Jenkins told us arson investigators are trying to determine what happened and whether the fires are connected.

According to dispatch records, the first fire broke out inside an occupied house at 8027 Curt at 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, causing minor damage. An hour later, a bigger fire broke out across the street inside a vacant house at 8086 Curt, which was gutted during a rekindle several hours later.

At 11 p.m. on Dec. 12, a small fire broke out inside the kitchen of an abandoned house on Curt.

At 1:52 a.m. on Dec. 15, firefighters scrambled to save an occupied house at 8041 Curt, but Engine 41, which has been malfunctioning at fire scenes, couldn’t pump water, so the home was severely damaged.  The fire department continued to send the malfunctioning truck to fires.

There was nothing firefighters could do to save a vacant house at 8081 Curt because it was engulfed when they arrived at 6:40 p.m. on Dec. 17.

Five hours later, two houses at the corner of the block, on Maxwell, were ablaze.

Firefighters asked for an arson investigator but none was available, which has typically been the case after midnight.

“I just want to make them aware of these fires around here nightly, right next to each other,” Chief 9 told the dispatcher during the Maxwell fire.

Five of the seven fires were reported as suspicious; the cause of the others were preliminarily reported as unknown.

Check out Loveland Technology’s interactive map, with updated photos, of the fires on Curt.

  Arson, chief 9, curt, east side, Fire department, loveland technologies, maxwell, motor city mapping

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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