Just days after Motor City Muckraker reported that the purchase of the rigs had become entangled in bureaucratic delays, the city gave the Fire Department the green light to begin accepting bids for new rigs this month.
Although the number of fires have leveled off during Devil’s Night over the past five years, this year poses more significant challenges.
Less than a day before hitting the streets for the first time, Detroit’s fire engine was taken out of service and sent to the repair shop.
So many fires broke out that Detroit ran out of trucks to respond, leaving the city dangerously unprotected.
Perhaps most eye-opening wasn’t the number of fires but the fallouts from budget cuts.
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has pledged a wholesale restructuring of the fire department.
The Detroit Fire Department is dangerously close to running out of trucks and engines to respond to fires because the aging, overrun fleet is breaking down faster than mechanics can make repairs