Firefighters saw roof to release heat and smoke.
Better arson investigation and blight eradication are among the reasons Detroit has seen a sharp reduction in structure fires over the past five years, The Detroit News reports.
It's good news, city officials say, but it only improves the city's overall neighborhood condition from "Armageddon" to "insane," in the words of the always-quotable head of the firefighters union, Mike Nevin.
Writes Christine Ferretti:
There were 4,741 structure fires in Detroit in 2014, compared with 2,736 in 2018, according to data. As a result, the city is now fighting an average of seven structure fires per day. That's down from about 30 per day that firefighters say they were battling five years ago.
Despite some progress, other large Midwestern cities reviewed by The Detroit News revealed Detroit's daily structure fire average outpaces them by more than three times. For example, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Columbus, Ohio, both average fewer than two structure fires per day even though Milwaukee has a greater density of people and Columbus has 56 percent more land. . . .
[Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric] Jones said growing the arson division from a seven-person unit to a team of 25 and a demolition program that's razed more than 16,823 blighted houses since 2014 are both factors in the decline.
Much of the city remains a tinderbox, as Nevin points out. Northeast and Southwest Detroit in particular still battle blight, and empty houses are tempting targets for arsonists. But as more are torn down and lots filled in, there is less fuel, and those areas have seen the greatest drop in incidents.
