Here’s what happens when Detroit firefighters have working equipment

It could have been a lot worse.

When firefighters arrived, a vacant house was engulfed in flames on a block tightly packed with houses in southwest Detroit this weekend.

To prevent the fire from spreading to the occupied house next door, firefighters couldn’t be impeded by bad hydrants, low water pressure or malfunctioning rigs – an all-too-common occurrence in Detroit.

The closest ladder truck – #22 – was out of service without working pumps or an aerial.

It was a lucky Saturday evening for residents on Cicotte at the I-94 service drive because the equipment worked as intended.

Firefighters aggressively attacked the blaze in a vacant house tagged with graffiti, preventing the flames from spreading to the occupied house next door.

  Abandoned houses, Apparatus, detroit is burning, equipment, fire, Fires, ladder 22, ladder truck, Southwest Detroit

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.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•