I happened to be in Detroit last night and rather than documenting a fire or two or three in a blazing single family dwelling, I stumbled into something uniquely Detroit--a brick-pitching from above that fractured the windshield of Squad 3 and had it hit a bit a bit to the west, could have seriously injured the boss, Lt. Mike Nevin.
The fire to which they were responding was minor, so after being released, they headed back to East Grand Boulevard with the Detroit Police to look at the situation.
Officials surmised that persons unknown rained down projectiles for most of the night on unsuspecting motorists on East Grand Boulevard, driving by the old abandoned Packard automobile plant--a hulking three square block rotting complex that is symbolic of all that is wrong with the Motor City.
Around 4 a.m., the Justin Verlander wannabes on the roof of the complex thought they hit the mother lode when a large fire truck with lights and sirens passed beneath. The lieutenant had his side window open and a millisecond or two later, he might have been in bad shape medically, although some said later that a bunch of stitches to the face might have been an improvement. Nothing like firehouse humor to help you cope with the grim consequences of just doing your job.
While looking at my images later, I'm reminded that while a photo of a Detroit single family dwelling fully involved might be striking, it is simply run-of-the-mill for these guys. A flame filled frame might be more exciting visually, but the photos of a street full of bricks, the investigating officers and a few firefighters reflecting on the reality of facing a whole bunch of danger for little in return, mirrors a responder's real life in the Motor City with a poignant directness.
The deeper story of the Detroit Fire Department lies in the crap they face day-to-day, and quite honestly, a fully involved dwelling is more routine than possibly losing your boss to some drug-high moron who wants to prove his manhood by bombarding innocent residents with the wrath of his drug-addled fury. Come on, who else would inhabit the upper floors of the decrepit Packard factory at this time of night?
The Detroit police were great--on the scene rapidly and after viewing the broken layer of bricks and chipped coping on the street, would have deployed into the depths of the fracturing remains of what once made America great if there was any hope of collaring the gentleman or two who tried to kill a Detroit firefighter on a stormy night in October.
And, Detroit's firefighters are not alone in this suffering because thousands of inner-city responders in large cities across the country can tell stories like this as well.
While the DFD fans' fire photos are dramatic reminders of the fact that Detroit is still, after all these years, burning, we must keep in mind the back story--hundreds of battle-weary Detroit firefighters that have no problem tackling the red devil, but are seriously concerned about ending their glorious careers with a dirty half-brick to the head.
And Devil's night is only two weeks away.
