Overwhelming Night for Detroit Firefighters

DETROIT (AP) - It was an overwhelming night for Detroit firefighters as massive fires popped up across the city destroying homes and, in one case, an entire block.

One of the hardest hit areas was Seven Mile and Van Dyke on the city’s east side. Firefighters had to battle high winds and a shortage of crews. No one was hurt, but fire spread to three separate blocks and 17 different structures within minutes. Luckily, we’re told most of those structures were vacant.

’Friday, I (saw) two guys with a ladder hooked up to the pole hooking (up) electricity illegally. I called DTE and nobody (came) out here. The lady (told) me she (was) going to give me a service charge if I called back again,’ said Mary Hargrave.

Hargrave claims she and her grandmother saw this coming. They tried to warn DTE, but were ignored repeatedly.

’I called them first thing again this morning after the long weekend’ Every so often my electricity was coming on and off,’ said Shirley Hargrave. ’So, she told me, `Well, ma’am. Someone will be out. I can’t give you a definite date or time.’

A few hours later the flames erupted. Witnesses tell arson investigators it all started because of that live wire.

’An actual heating contractor saw the line snap, fall on the garage and start the garage on fire right where he was, and as he watched it waiting for fire trucks to arrive, it was spreading rapidly due to the wind,’ said Captain Steve Varnas with the Detroit Fire Department Arson Investigation Unit.

The wind created a firestorm that jumped streets from Quinn to Robinwood and then Hollywood. It spread to 17 separate structures, including garages, vacant houses and homes. Families were evacuated just in the nick of time.

Derrick Moore told us the kids were priority one.

’At first, we couldn’t get out because everything was blocked off,’ he said. ’We were just trying to hurry up and get everybody out, so we had to leave through a field.’

The Detroit Fire Department worked tirelessly to control the flames. Manpower was spread so thin that some firefighters had to man the hoses individually.

However, as the Hargraves watched their house succumb to the flames, they couldn’t help think this could have been prevented.

’I don’t blame the firefighters. I blame Detroit Edison because they were called more than one time,’ Hargrave said.

DTE says they are investigating those claims.

FOX 2 spoke to someone who said they are looking to see if those people did indeed call. We’re told they receive 1,000 calls for illegal hookups every day.

The Salvation Army is working with one displaced family. There are a couple of other families also impacted by this fire who are staying with relatives.

There were also a lot of fires on the west side on the city.

’One house (causes) nine houses to burn down? That (doesn’t) make (any) sense,’ said Raymond Mayes.

A scene so devastating the lifelong Detroiter was reduced to tears. Much of his neighborhood has been reduced to rubble and there is little he could do to stop it.

The fire started behind a home on Margarita Street and quickly spread to nine houses. Neighbors called 911 time and time again, but say it took at least an hour before one fire truck showed up.

’The one house (spread) to five and they sent one unit. Then the five houses (spread) to nine,’ said Dorothy Simmons.

’(It) took the firemen over an hour to get here. (It doesn’t) make (any) sense,’ Mayes said.

Detroit firefighters were certainly spread thin Tuesday night, battling more than a dozen fires all over the city. Many off-duty firemen saw the smoke and came to help.

Neighbors also got involved, grabbing hoses and fighting the fires themselves. They even rescued each others’ pets trapped in the flames.

’There (were) some dogs in the house the next block over and the gate was padlocked, and about five or six of us citizens’ busted the gate down and’ rescued the dogs,’ Simmons said.

Larcherie Winfield’s parents lost their home and almost everything in it. She’s just grateful she was able to rescue one thing.

’The first thing that came to my mind was to get my brother’s ashes, and that was the only thing I was able to get out of the house,’ she said.

In the wake of all this devastation, these neighbors are grateful that no one was physically hurt, but they believe the fire could have been stopped sooner; a belief that’s shaking their faith in the city they call home.

’We’re paying our taxes,’ said Winfield. ’When we need assistance, why is there no one out here to assist us in a timely manner?’

’It makes me want to leave. You can’t even get help,’ said Simmons.

’Mayor Bing (needs) to get it together,’ said Mayes.

In this case, firefighters believe a power line knocked down by the wind is to blame. We’re told that one of the fire trucks that could have responded to the scene was actually pulled out of service Tuesday for budget reasons.

Firefighters were also kept busy at McClellan and Murray on the east side of the city. Residents said it took crews thirty minutes to get to that scene and reported at least three homes on fire in the neighborhood.

Also on the city’s east side, firefighters had their hands full with numerous fires at Moenart at Luce. The high winds forced the flames onto homes on nearby Bloom Street. We’re told the houses and garages that caught fire in this area are abandoned.

The first fire of the evening was spotted at Chene and Hendrie on Detroit’s lower east side. Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at a large commercial building. It’s unclear if that building was occupied.