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Detroit’s Devils Night 2016. 3 Nights of Gas Fumes

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4775-200DETROIT October 29 2016: Tonight is the start of the legendary Devil’s Night in Detroit. It’s had bad years and good years, relatively speaking of course. It’s started off slow tonight with only a couple of trash fires, a kitchen fire and a dead body in a basement. Not exactly what you’d expect from a legendary night. There’s a number of reasons why I’m guessing, citizens having had enough and forming groups of Angels Night volunteers, a neighborhood watch movement started a few years ago. In addition to the volunteers, the Detroit Police Department has a number of units out assigned to task forces created to stop arsons in the city. That’s all well and good, it’s better to have no fires that box alarms dropping every 2 minutes, which has happened.

Day 1 of the 2016 Devil’s Night ended kind of, what’s the word, flaccid? No, that’s probably wrong but it certainly wasn’t as bad as previous years. I was able to hold on until around 4:00am, then passed out. A couple of fires broke out but certainly nothing major. Alex over at @FireandWeather was able to post a couple of short Periscope videos while prowling Detroit streets. You can find his Periscope account here. A fire on Rochelle & Celestine and another on Maiden & Roseberry, both on Detroit’s NE side. You can hear firefighters sigh of relief all the way here. Previous Devil’s Nights saw many more fires so a breather; not unlike last years, is welcome in all the firehouses. Motor City Muckraker is reporting 11 dwellings and 2 building fires last night/this morning. On to Day/Night/Morning 2.

“The number of fires on Devils’ Night have been steadily declining since the 1990s. Last year, the city had fewer fires on Devils’ Night than any year since the 1970s.” – Motor City Muckraker

Graph via Motor City Muckraker

Graph via Motor City Muckraker

 

October 30 2016 – Day/Night 2 of Detroit’s Devil’s Night 2016

October 29 2016 – Day/Night 1 of Detroit’s Devil’s Night 2016

Detroit Fire’s Truck 18 Crashes Responding To False Alarm

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Photo via @FireandWeather WeatherandFire
Photo via @FireandWeather WeatherandFire

detroit-fireDETROIT October 27 2016: Detroit Fire Departments Ladder Truck 18 was involved in an injury motor vehicle accident today. The particulars are unknown but occupants of the civilian vehicle involved were transported by DFD DEMS Medics to Detroit Receiving Hospital. The driver of Ladder Truck 18 was also conveyed to a local hospital by DEMS Medic 16. Local Detroit Fire Photographer @FireAndWeather was on the scene and reported the injuries didn’t appear too serious, but both vehicles were out of service. Ladder Truck 18 had passenger side damage. Initial reports by companies on the scene said no firefighters were injured.

Detroit Fire’s Ladder Truck 18 was responding to a reported dwelling fire on 7 Mile & Goddard, an address known to this author as being the scene of a previous false alarm. Companies on scene reported, once again, there was no such address and reported a false alarm.

And so it goes….Stay Frosty Detroit.

Local Fire Photographer & Firefighters Attacked on Fire Scene

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photog-1-motorcity911DETROIT October 25 2016: What started off as a crazy day for Detroit Firefighters on Tuesday ended up going full-tilt nuts in the evening. Detroit Fire’s 6th & 9th Battalions were dispatched to Detroit’s east side on reports of multiple dwellings on fire. The 6th Battalion made the fire scene at Molena & Van Dyke at around 11:00PM Tuesday evening. At 11:10PM Chief 6 requested the Detroit Police Department on scene for traffic control. 14 minutes later at 11:24PM Battalion Chief 9 reported firefighters were being attacked by a knife wielding man and they needed a scout FAST!. (FULL Audio of Incident Above) Numerous requests were made until the Detroit Police had a unit available. A couple of different precincts attempted to get police units to the scene but Detroit is a busy place at night, police units come at a premium. The police eventually showed up and the scene became secure, crickets were cricketing again….for a little while anyway.

Meanwhile, a short distance away,  local Fire Photography “buff” Alex (@FireAndWeather) and a friend were enjoying the sights and sounds of the fire scene. Alex and his friend were doing what fire photographers do, taking photographs and video of Detroit firefighters in action. Unfortunately, for Alex’s friend, he caught the attention of our knife wielding homeowner on a tear and became the prey. The East Side Slasher came after “the friend” and chased him down the sidewalk, screaming obscenities as he went. The “friend” can be seen doing a pretty good “moon walk” while the knife wielding perp chased him down the sidewalk and away from the scene. The whole episode was captured on Periscope by Alex on is #Periscope account, @AlexFireChaser. Thankfully, Alex’s friend is fleet of foot and was able to extricate himself from the situation without a poke.

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Firefighters were also under attack by this East Side Slasher and throughout Alex’s video the knife wielding knucklehead can be heard yelling at anyone and anything within shouting distance. At one point, he can be heard screaming at a tree “Whatcha gonna do! Whatcha gonna do!”.  By this time, the DPD scout had left the scene to deal with something a little more pressing and the situation once again became out of control. A second request for a DPD scout was made by Battalion Chief 6 at 11:49PM and 43 minutes later the police once again saved the day, or morning as it were. A handgun was also recovered by firefighters and turned over to the DPD at that time.

It’s said the attacker was later arrested by the Detroit Police and given a nice warm bed and a cup of cocoa at the Detroit Detention Center.

Thankfully no one was hurt and everyone went home happy…except for Alex’s friend who will NEVER go on a fire scene with Alex again.

See The Video

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Stay Frosty Detroit.

Firefighter Down! 5 Detroit Firefighters Injured in 36 Hours

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dfdambDETROIT October 25 2016: The Detroit Fire Department has had a rough 36 hours. 5 of their firefighters have been conveyed to local hospitals due to injuries suffered on fire scenes. A suspicious fire on Monday at an abandoned apartment building saw the first 3 injured firefighters. Those injured firefighters were conveyed by Detroit EMS for injuries ranging from back issues to burns.

On Tuesday afternoon at 3:17PM, a Detroit firefighter was injured battling a suspicious in origin fire at Ashton & Westfield on Detroit’s NW side. Battalion Chief 2 advised central dispatch that he had an injured firefighter that needed medical attention. Detroit EMS was already on standby at the scene of the fire and conveyed the injured firefighter to Detroit Receiving Hospital. The firefighter’s injuries are unknown.

7:52PM on Tuesday evening saw the 5th Detroit firefighter experience an injury at a suspicious fire in Detroit’s NE on Rossini & Rex. Battalion Chief 9 reported to central dispatch that he required a Detroit EMS Unit for an injured firefighter on scene. The DEMS unit on scene had been released earier by Chief 9. Detroit EMS Unit 24 responded and conveyed the injured firefighter to St John’s Hospital on Moross Rd in NE Detroit. The firefighters injuries are unknown.

All three fires were suspicious in origin. October’s “Devil’s Night” or “Angel’s Night” as its called these days, does historically see an uptick in suspicious/arson fires. These arson fires usually begin to appear in the last week of October. This year seems no different, except for the injuries to the men and women tasked with protecting the populace. Theoretically, those responsible for these fires; if caught, could be criminally charged for the injuries incurred by the firefighters.

3 Detroit Firefighters Injured in Early Morning Blaze

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DETROIT October 24, 2016: 3 Detroit Firefighters were injured this morning fighting a fire at an abandoned multi family dwelling on Detroit’s north end. Detroit Fire dispatched the 5th Battalion around 8:30am to 526 Harmon on reports of a dwelling fire. Battalion Chief 5 was first on scene and reported the first engine would be stretching.

DFD companies experienced pressure issues while battling the flames in both the basement and on the second floor of the building.

Those issues were quickly mitigated and the fight continued. Fire was reported in the walls of the structure while working their way up to the attic. At 9:15am, Battalion Chief 5 reported 2 firefighters were injured and Detroit Medics 2 & 1 conveyed those 2 firefighters to Detroit Receiving Hospital on St Antoine St. 1 firefighter experienced a back injury while the other had burns to the face. It’s unknown how they received the injuries nor the extent of the injuries suffered. A 3rd Detroit firefighter experienced a back injury later during the firefight and was also conveyed to DRH by Detroit Medic 10.

Battalion Chief 5 then requested 2 additional companies and an additional Detroit Medic unit to the incident scene. Detroit Fire’s Senior Chief 203 also responded to scene although he didn’t assume command. Battalion Chief 5 remained the incident commander.

At 10:35am, Battalion Chief 5 terminated incident command on the box alarm and handed the IC to companies on the scene. Chief 5 then advised central dispatch that he was en route to Detroit Receiving Hospital to check on his injured firefighters.

DFD Ladder 7 reported a disposition of 021 (Suspicious Origin) and advised central dispatch that DPD Arson Car would remain on scene.

I’ll update when updates are available.