The Detroit Bundle

“Man it feels good to be back in the City” - 4/1/11

Our usual start is the early morning jet, filled with suits & ties. Except for us half dozen buffs with ballcaps & navy faded fire department shirts, standing out like the elephant in the room. Not this time, instead we opted for the Red Eye out of LGA, it was a hit the ground running approach. It’s always enjoyable sharing brief stories or explanations if you will, with the members of the TSA at our departing airport or Detroit Wayne International. They are always slightly confused & most times interested after five or six men with more camera & radio equipment than socks or underwear come flying through the airport checkpoints. We make quick work, after all with the amount of hours logged at this point we know the drill. After the usual shakedowns it was wheels up & gear down. We had the rental cars converted to temporary buff fly cars in no time.

With our waypoint set towards Detroit city limits, wasn’t long before we spotted a loom in the sky. After quick investigation & some slight navigational guessing we fell upon the fire. A few companies from the 1st Battalion were soaking down a machinery fire in a scrapyard off of Mack & St. Aubin. Wasn’t anything to make the front page, but we stepped out to snap a few shots & narrow down the settings on the SLR’s for nighttime shooting. Companies had a ladder pipe flowing with the scrapyard’s excavator assisting in shuffling around the smoldering pile of junked metals. Believe they were there for most of the night into the early morning. They did relieve the initial companies with fresh manpower but left the first due rigs. Always found that interesting, as with most things with the DFD, when it comes to fire suppression it’s a keep it simple stupid mentality. The relief companies come in, take over the operation, than the worn, wet & tired members commandeer the relief rigs & head back for some much needed rehab. Not to say it doesn’t happen but it’s not common practice on the east coast. We stick to accountability of equipment & a get the hell off my rig mindset. DFD responds with little care for the non essentials, it’s a let’s get the job done & get the hell back in service kinda ballgame. I respect it, after all believe that’s the way things used to be in the fire service everywhere in this country.

After the initial excitement, our first working dwelling fire rang in around 0300 hours. Central Office shipped the Box Alarm for Harding & Shoemaker, reported vacant dwelling in the 6th Battalion. Within moments the first arriving company was stretching & passing command to the second arriving unit. This was to be the usual, what is & has unfortunately become the bread & butter for the DFD. A vacant dwelling with heavy fire throughout. With the infamous blitz attack, companies wasted no time darkening the fire, searching, venting & putting the fire under control within 15 minutes. No surprise here, after all they’ve only been doing it daily for more than five decades.

For more Photos from this fire visit Harding & Shoemaker 4/1/11 - © Mj Fernandez 2011