Report: Fires cost Detroit millions, displace hundreds

• Loveland Technologies reports outcome of 1,600 fires in first six months
• Detroit has led nation in arson rates for years
• Situation is ‘getting worse’ outside downtown, author says

Detroit — A new report shows fire and arson remain a huge challenge for Detroit, destroying buildings almost as fast as the city can tear them down.

Data company Loveland Technologies on Wednesday released “Detroit: After the Fire,” an examination of 1,653 fires from Jan. 1 to July 31. The fires displaced more than 1,000 residents and will cost the city at least $2.93 million in demolition costs, according to the report that is online at https://makeloveland.com/fire.

Jerry Paffendorf, CEO of Loveland, said the findings highlight a crisis that slows Mayor Mike Duggan’s demolition blitz of dilapidated homes and decimates neighborhoods in Detroit.

“Outside of greater downtown, things are still getting worse more than they are getting better,” Paffendorf said. “That is a challenging narrative, but one that must be shown or things will continue to get worse.”

Some of the report’s findings mirror those of a Detroit News investigation this year, which concluded that two-thirds of the 9,000 homes that burned in suspicious fires from 2010-13 are still standing. The News reported that Detroit for years has led the nation in per capita arson rates, but staff shortages allow the Fire Department to only investigate about 1 in every 3 suspicious fires.

In response to The News’ stories, Duggan vowed to improve clearance rates and added police officers to the Fire Department’s Arson Squad.

Loveland’s fire report complements its unprecedented inventory last year of housing conditions for all city parcels that was commissioned by the Detroit Blight Task Force. The findings were used to prioritize demolitions of more than 5,000 buildings since January 2014.

The report will be updated throughout 2015, Paffendorf said. It was compiled by staffers listening to scanners, then surveying properties after fire crews left.

He said fire is “causing great harm and expense to the city,” challenging Duggan’s efforts to increase the population.

Findings also rebut a national perception that Detroit’s comeback is in full swing after its historic bankruptcy, Paffendorf said.

“We are battling a problem decades in the making here,” said Paffendorf, whose company operates a website that maps property ownership and tax information for Detroit and other cities.

Among other findings, the fire report concluded 665 homes that went into tax foreclosure in 2014 or ’15 have burned, while at least 14 fires spread to other buildings because of faulty hydrants.

Fire Commissioner Edsel Jenkins said he’s “reviewing the Loveland report to compare it with the data we use,” which he said includes “final fire reports as opposed to scanner traffic.”

Detroit has had a fire problem for decades, but Jenkins said the Fire Department is making great progress. Structure fires are down 14 percent, while the city replaced 10 fire engines and response times have improved to 7 minutes, which Jenkins said is “within the national average.”

“The city is moving in the right direction,” Alexis Wiley, Duggan’s chief of staff said Wednesday. “We’re seeing building fires decrease significantly and overall fire runs are also decreasing. We’re seeing that across the city when you compare it to when we first came into office. The numbers really tell that story.”

The city is in the process of upgrading hydrants and systems to report problems. Tests of 23,00 hydrants have found less than 3 percent inoperable, Jenkins said, and repairs are slated for 200 per week in coming months.

In the next 30 days, Detroit also expects to put fire reports online through the city’s Open Data Portal website.

Staff Writer Mark Hicks contributed.