For decades, according to WXYZ-TV investigator Scott Lewis, drinking has been a tradition in Detroit firehouses.
Fire Commissioner Don Austin, a Detroiter who spent his career with the Los Angeles Fire Department, knew of the tradition from his brother, a former fire fighter in Detroit.
During an inspection of an engine house when he first came on the job as boss in Detroit, Austin and another fire official came across five beers cooling on ice and a garbage bag ful of empties. All of the fire fighters on duty that day tested negative for alcohol. Austin assumes the drinking had taken place on he previous shift.
Austin's attempts to put an end to the practice have run into opposition because of union rules and arbitration. Union President Dan McNamara agrees fire fighters should not drink while on duty at their dangerous jobs.
