Less than two days after firefighters reported an underground fire in downtown Detroit, they spotted smoke coming from another “blown” manhole Monday morning, just a block from Cobo Center.
When Detroit firefighters arrived to a massive fire from a tanker explosion near downtown on I-75 this weekend, there was little they could do but wait. And wait. And wait.
The fires spread and damaged more than two dozen neighboring houses, in no small part due to delays caused by broken hydrants and malfunctioning rigs.
A Highland Park fire official also recently endangered the lives of his fellow firefighters by demanding they not leave a burning house until a fire was out.
This is part of a yearlong project to document every fire in Detroit, where the arson rate is the highest in the nation.
Long-awaited help is on the way for the beleaguered Detroit Fire Department.
Detroit’s aging rigs are breaking down at a frightening rate.
Fires burned longer and caused more damage because of inoperable hydrants and the rapidly declining condition of the city’s rigs.
The broken hydrants protect homes, schools, historic buildings, apartment high-rises, downtown skyscrapers, libraries, gas stations, churches and more.
Detroit firefighters were trying to save up to three people trapped on the third floor of a building that exploded this morning on the east side.