17 Arsons, 4 Days, 1 Detroit Neighborhood

[Gunny]

17 arsons in 4 days? Damn.

And who would have thought this kind of thing could happen in Detroit?

17 Arsons, 4 Days, 1 Detroit Neighborhood



DETROIT, Mich. - It's known as Detroit's forgotten neighborhood left to burn and decay.

The neighborhood is under attack by a fire bug, hit by 17 arson fires in four days. The people who remain are begging authorities for help, MyFoxDetroit.com reports.

"They started like two fires the other day, back to back. The firemen left, then there was another one that started. So it was really bad," resident Charlita Kreft said.

The fire starter is making his rounds on Detroit's east side where now there are literally just shells of houses on some blocks.

"To have an area that has been so hard hit in the past, we had a few fires back in August that really hit the area badly, and then to just have the number of fires that keep happening and happening. The majority of the fires have been proven to be arson," Detroit Fire Capt. Steve Kirschner told MyFoxDetroit.com.

Residents are concerned that the fire department is not reaching the area as quickly as they could.

"They did get here, but it seemed like it was not fast enough because it did burn down to the ground," Kreft said.

Kirschner explains that fire companies are being spread thin with the vast amount of fires.

"When you have multiple fires in a certain area, that response time is greatly extended. So now instead of being there three to five minutes, now you are looking at maybe seven to ten minutes and fire doubles in size every two to three minutes."

He also stressed that diminished resources put the firemen at greater risk.

Kirschner says he remembers a different time on the block.

"I knew the area when it was thriving area, when all those homes were occupied, when those vacant lots had homes in them full of families. It's sad to see this."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/14...est=latestnews

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

The city's totally abandoned, so you can just burn shit down and get away with it.

I've been watching a show about a pawn shop super store (Hardcore Pawn). It's located in Detroit. There are two shows I know about Detroit: one is about pawning, the other one is about solving crimes.

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

A while ago, even the mayor's car had its tires stolen and was found on cinder blocks. The Europeans saw this coming 25 years ago (Robocop Director is Dutch, I believe).

[Gunny]

Yeah, Detroit is in a world of hurt. People are fleeing the city by the masses. The population has severely dropped in the past few years. People can't get out of that place fast enough. And I can't blame them.

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

There were some interesting proposals on how to help Detroit. One was forcing some people in desolate areas out of their homes and into areas that were more densely populated. Then the desolate areas would be demolished and turned into farmland. I think the general gist of that is right. Pay the people to leave their homes in abandoned neighborhoods, bulldoze the entire area and turn it into farmland. It saves on public education costs, police coverage, reduces crack houses and hide outs and you can do something useful with the land.

[Gunny]

There were some interesting proposals on how to help Detroit. One was forcing some people in desolate areas out of their homes and into areas that were more densely populated. Then the desolate areas would be demolished and turned into farmland. I think the general gist of that is right. Pay the people to leave their homes in abandoned neighborhoods, bulldoze the entire area and turn it into farmland. It saves on public education costs, police coverage, reduces crack houses and hide outs and you can do something useful with the land.

It's not a bad idea. They definitely have to do something. Some places in Detroit are like a third world war zone.