Detroit Fire Commissioner: Let Some Abandoned Houses Burn

DETROIT (WJBK) - I was chasing fire the other evening. It's an easy thing to do. There are more than 500 arsons in Detroit every month.

This time, two abandoned houses caught fire on the east side. Arson most likely. The fires were sandwiched between two functioning and occupied homes. One home had flowers in the window.

Firefighters responded quickly. They pulled hoses and began battling the blazes from the sides trying to protect the occupied homes. Others ran into the abandoned structures to search for life.

The walls on one of the houses began to lurch. The battalion chief called his men out and then, moments later, the roof collapsed. The chief's order may have saved a half-dozen lives.

That's when a wild-eyed woman came running up to me.

"It ain't right," she screamed.

"They saved your house," I said. "You ought to thank these men instead of complaining."

"Oh no, I love the firemen," she said. "But I've been complaining about them abandoned houses for years. The city don't do nothing. And they ain't gonna do nothing tomorrow. I want them to let those empty houses burn to the ground."

I went back to the block two days later. The woman was right. The rubble was still there and will probably stay there for years. The flowers were still in her window. But for how long?

Who wants to live next to a rat's nest? A fire trap? Her siding was melted.

Enter newly appointed Fire Commissioner Don Austin. He tells me, following three months of study, that in some circumstances he wants to let abandoned structures burn to the ground. Specifically houses with nobody in them; houses with no other dwellings around.

Click on the video player to watch Charlie LeDuff's report.  Click here to find out what Commissioner Austin had to say about this on "Let It Rip."

And why not? Nobody is going to remodel a half-burned house.

Worse, a punk returns and lights them on fire again. Then the firefighters return at great risk to themselves and great expense to the city.

Then there is the fact that the city has no money to tear down the disease. The landscape begins to look like a death field where pachyderms go to die.

"It will alleviate blight," Austin said. "More importantly, it will protect firefighters' lives."

It is a plan in its beginning stages and sure to meet with controversy. Will arsonists feel emboldened? Will neighbors take matters into their own hands and burn down the local crack house? What happens if there is a squatter inside one of these structures? Will the Arson Squad be beefed up? Will there be a push to put more firebugs behind bars?

This is the moment in Detroit's future. In walks a capable man like Austin who speaks the truth to a city not used to the truth. Public safety must be priority number one. We can't find the money we need, so difficult decisions have to be made. And if we don't make the tough decisions now, how long before the whole thing turns to ash?