Detroit Fire

[Taz288 8]

19 shocking facts about Detroit's bankruptcy
John Reeves, The Motley Fool 9:20 a.m. EST December 3, 2013 USA Today


15. Detroit has witnessed 11,000-12,000 fires every year for the past decade.
16. Detroit's homicide rate is at the highest level in 40 years, and it has been named one of the most dangerous cities in America for more than 20 years.
17. Its citizens wait on average more than 58 minutes for the police to respond to their calls, compared to a national average of 11 minutes.
18. The city has 78,000 abandoned structures.


(DFD website only states 7000 fires out of 30,000 runs they do not do ems runs due to manpower/heavy fireload
25% of their responses are Working Structure Fires (mostly arson or suspected arson)


Firehouses are looking for donations for new or used equipment as the city cannot afford to buy them the stuff they need
http://www.detroitmutualaid.com/
http://www.thethinredline.org/detroit-fire-t-shirt.html

[Taz288 8]

November 29, 2013 at 1:00 am

$24.2M federal grant to hire 150 Detroit firefighters a 'godsend'

• Tony Briscoe
• The Detroit News
• 212 Comments

Detroit — O’Dell Tate has volunteered for the city’s Angels’ Night patrols for more than a decade and has watched as firefighters battle blazes that strain resources and put neighborhoods on edge.

Now, with a $24.2 million federal grant — the largest ever awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to a fire department — and two savvy grant writers, the city stands to hire 150 new firefighters.

“It couldn’t come at a better time,” Tate said. “We have wonderful firefighters here, but for a city Detroit’s size, to increase our numbers would be a great asset.”

After losing out on millions in federal grants for years, the Fire Department turned to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation, a nonprofit foundation founded in 2011 to boost Detroit’s waning public safety resources.

“The Fire Department is an area that has so many needs and they didn’t have anybody that has focused on writing grants ... ,” Catherine Govan, executive director of the foundation. “It just makes us feel that we’re doing what we need to do to help the city.”

Govan said the nonprofit dedicated two grant writers to look for any grant “we could possibly get.”

The grant will fund new firefighters’ salaries and benefits for two years.

The Fire Department had never secured a grant from FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program, or SAFER, until 2011, when the foundation stepped in. Since then, the Fire Department captured a $22.5 million award in 2012, the largest SAFER grant awarded up to that point, that kept 108 firefighters from layoffs. In October of that year, the city laid off 26 firefighters, but they returned a month later under another SAFER grant of $5.6 million.

The latest grant is a “godsend,” said Executive Fire Commissioner Don Austin, who credited the foundation with securing the grants that will boost staffing.

“This is wonderful news for the city of Detroit and for our firefighters,” Austin said. “The average age of our firefighters is 45, so we need some new blood and this is really going to support that effort.”

The SAFER grant comes amid an effort by the Obama administration to invest in Detroit's economic recovery and enhance quality of life for residents. In September, the administration announced in Detroit that it would unlock $300 million in new and repurposed grants.

The Fire Department has 781 firefighters, down hundreds due to retirements, said Austin. The city has about 11,000 to 12,000 fires annually — with 60 percent in blighted or unoccupied buildings.

Last month, the Fire Department began its search to fill 90 firefighter positions, funded by city monies. There were more than 2,400 applicants, which Austin said he expects to tap to fill those openings and the 150 new positions.

Applicants will take written, physical and oral examinations.

Dan McNamara, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association union, said the grant is another step toward building a “younger, healthier, stronger Fire Department.”

“We are very thankful this Thanksgiving,” McNamara said. “This is certainly a move in the right direction and it gives us hope we can build a good base and move forward.”

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, who announced the award Wednesday, said the grant will better protect Detroiters.

“This is another major investment in the city of Detroit that will go a long way in helping the Fire Department hire additional firefighters to protect the public,” Stabenow, D-Lansing, said in a statement. “Making sure our first responders have the resources they need is exactly the kind of support that will help Detroit’s continued revitalization.”

Levin, D-Detroit, added: “There is no more important task (than) caring for our people in times of emergency.”

There’s no obligation to retain the grant-funded firefighters after the two-year period, but Austin said he hopes Detroit’s finances will be strong enough to support the newest hires. “By then, the city should be in a healthier position to maintain the basic level required to perform services,” Austin said.

tbriscoe@detroitnews.com
(313) 222-2541

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131129/METRO01/311290027#ixzz2mQdnG8a0

[Taz288 8]

Detroit’s top fire official, Don Austin, is resigning in wake of botched fire crisis

by Steve Neavling / Published yesterday / @mcmuckraker

SHARE THIS

Facebook0 Tweet

Fire Commissioner Don Austin routinely mishandled Detroit's fire crisis.

Detroit Fire Commissioner Don Austin, who botched the hiring of new firefighters, regularly conceals the severity of the fire crisis and oversaw drastic budget reductions, is resigning as early as this week, city sources told us today.

Residents began calling for Austin’s resignation this summer, saying he’s responsible for an increase in the number of fires that are decimating neighborhoods, jacking up home insurance rates and claiming lives.

Since Austin took the helm in May 2011, firefighters’ wages were cut 10%, arsons were drastically underreported and seven fire stations were permanently closed as part of a $24-million reduction in the department’s budget. Most of those stations have since been broken into and stripped over scrap metal.

The Motor City Muckraker has been examining the fire department over the past year, revealing poor leadership, an inadequately staffed department and firefighters who are forced to work without the proper safety equipment or working trucks and engines.

Fire trucks continue to break down at unprecedented rates, and repairs are woefully slow. Firefighters often are forced to buy their own safety equipment, and arson investigators are rarely available.

Austin’s administration regularly closes down stations over night to save money, despite a flare up of fires from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The city averages 30 fires a day, about half of which are suspected arsons. The city has only enough arson investigators to review 20% of suspected fires – an admission Austin made only after we offered the evidence.

Austin has declined numerous requests for interviews and stopped reporting when firefighters were injured or residents killed.

Firefighters have described the former Los Angeles fire chief as cold and uninspiring.

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.