Grosse Pointe, a suburb that borders on the east side of Detroit. This is a public safety department so the fire response here is vastly different than the city of Detroit. Manpower is very limited initially and is supplemented by people responding from home and on duty police officer/firefighters. All the mutual aid companies also share this type of system.
The fire involved a large dwelling under renovation that was fully involved and rapidly spreading to the exposures. Above the 5th alarm level the City of Detroit was requested to send two engine companies, a squad, and a buggy. When we arrived the original fire building was fully involved and starting to collapse. Exposure 4 was becoming well involved and exposure 2 was severely threatened. Allthree buildings were lost. We witnessed some spectacular fire conditions here and initial units on scene were pretty much overwhelmed from the start considering the available resources. This was a horrible event for all concerned although thankfully no lives were lost. More can be seen here.
Grosse Pointe, Michigan 5-Alarm Fire, March 26, 2018.
The city of Grosse Pointe, Michigan received calls of a fully-involved home on Washington Road around 10:20pm on Monday, March 26th, 2018. The city is protected by a Public Safety Department where personnel are both police officers and firefighters. The first arriving unit reported a fully-involved, 2-story colonial that was under construction with fire through the roof, and immediately called for a 3rd alarm. I am not aware of what exactly that brings, but I can tell you it does not bring what many 3rd alarms do. A minute or so later, a 4th alarm was requested.
Eventually, the City of Detroit was requested as auto-aid but it was too little, too late. The fast moving inferno quickly overpowered the short-handed department. The “D” side exposure was another large, 2-story colonial and the “B” side exposure was a large tudor. Both of these structures were occupied and both would be incinerated in a manner that every homeowner should be aware of. Experienced fire suppression crews are invaluable and this was evident in the loss of the exposures during this incident. The men and women on scene did everything they could, but they just did not have the manpower to keep up. For reference, the first image was taken about 25 minutes in and is the original fire building.
3-alarm fire about mid-morning on April 10th, Grosse Pointe, Michigan had a structure fire in a large, single-family dwelling. The first arriving company reported heavy smoke and fire and requested a 3rd Alarm on arrival. Responding from a distance, I thought for sure this was going to be one heck of a job. When I arrived on the scene I was suprised to see just three pieces of equipment and the fire mostly out with the exception of some residual smoke. Turned out that this was a Public Safety Department with Grosse Pointe sending a mini-pumper, Grosse Pointe Farms sending an engine and Grosse Pointe Park sending a tower ladder on a third alarm. There was heavy fire blowing out the kitchen window which was handled with the companies shown in the images. Nothing dramatic but an interesting response which I thought I would share here. Eric Haak
