More than 3,000 houses, businesses, churches, schools, apartments and other buildings burned in Detroit in 2015. Most were suspicious fires, which often spread to adjacent buildings because of bad hydrants and malfunctioning rigs.
Motor City Muckraker tracked every fire as part of a one-year project that led to reforms and the ousting of top fire officials.
Engine 39.Southwest Detroit has been hammered by fires and a lack of working hydrants.Three houses burn on the west side.Firefighters prevent a fire from spreading to an occupied house on the west side.Fire rips through a vacant house on a tightly packed street on Martin and Michigan.Families gather as a fire ripped through three houses at Gilbert and Otis.Flames devours this house at Cadillac and Mack because of low water pressure from the hydrant.A firefighter takes a quick breather after battling flames that tore through two homes on the east side.Kenneth Kirby’s home was damaged when fire destroyed his neighbor’s house in the area of Hantz Woodlands on the east side.Flames devour a house at 5917 Dubois.Aerial attack at 5917 Dubois.This house on the west side stood no chance with a faulty hydrant.A medic carries a toddler injured in a Marcus St. fire.Fatal fire on Marcus Street.Climbing an aerial ladder.A fire breaks out beside Squad 4’s headquarters.A family lost its home on W. Chicago because of two bad hydrants.Extinguishing a fire in a vacant house on the east side.
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.
