DETROIT (WXYZ) Several homes are fully-engulfed in flames in several different locations in Detroit.
On Detroits east side, multiple homes are on fire on Moenart near Mound and McNichols. At least twenty homes were fully-engulfed near Quinn and Van Dyke. Multiple homes are on fire on Robinwood Street and Van Dyke, near the fires on Quinn and Van Dyke. Another set of homes are on fire at 7 Mile and Livernois on Detroits west side.
Firefighters were also battling an abandoned commercial building near Chene and Hendrie on Detroits east side. Police are investigating the fires. Windy weather has hampered efforts to put out the flames.
Downed power lines ignite at least 20 blazes; one burns 17 structures
DETROIT, Mich. At least 20 fires raged across large sections of Detroit Tuesday night as winds knocked over power lines and fanned flames.
Theres no fire bug here, Detroit Fire Department Capt. Steve Varnas told the Detroit Free Press as he surveyed the damage from a blaze in the area of Van Dyke and 7 Mile that had claimed at least 17 structures. Throughout the whole city, the same thing is happening: Wires down everywhere.
High winds were causing dead limbs to fall from trees, knocking down the wires that have been igniting, Varnas said.
Winds were gusting to 50 mph and humidity was low.
On the east side of the city, a vacant commercial building on Hendrie and Dubois streets caught fire just before 5 p.m., said WDIV, the NBC TV affiliate in Detroit.
On the west side, fires were reported on Curtis Street and Livernois Avenue, and on Plainview Avenue and Evergreen Road.
No injuries have been reported.
DTE Energy said late Tuesday evening that about 50,000 customers were without power at the peak of fire-caused outages, the Free Press said. At 9 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) 38,000 were still in the dark.
DTE officials said they were checking on fire department claims about downed lines sparking fires.
Ian Perrotta told the Free Press that he noticed a fire in his neighbor's Moenart garage on the northeast side; three hours later his own garage, several houses away, was ablaze.
"My immediate thought when I saw the fire was it shouldn't have been that bad," Perrotta, a former firefighter, told the News. "It could have been contained sooner."
Perrotta said it took more than 30 minutes for police and fire to arrive.
Doris Lee and her husband, Ernest Lee, told the Free Press they are devastated after watching their house in the 12300 block of Moenart on Detroit's northeast side go up in flames.
"I was changing clothes for work when I heard my neighbor knocking on the door saying 'Get out, get out,'" Doris Lee said. "We've lost everything. We just left with the clothes on our backs."
"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion"~ Albert Camus
Prevention and Fire Stations staying open beats the pound of cure. ;}
Fires in Colorado....And Detroit?
Boulder County, Colo. officials estimate 92 homes have burned in the Four Mile Canyon fire, along with 11 square miles of land. None of the fire is contained because the terrain is steep and the brush is dry, so the U.S Forest Service expects the fire to grow. No one has been hurt. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle is investigating what started the fire; 911 recordings suggest exploding propane tanks may be involved.
Thanks jim for the info. Our worst season for fire is only just coming up...October, our forest areas light up the skies, there's smoke everywhere, even the interstate, and I just happen to be sitting a few hundred yards from a forested area, it's part of my property, dry pasture land all around me...scary as hell...
"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion"~ Albert Camus