Aftermath of 20 home fire in Detroit, MI Robinwood

http://detroitprogress.com

Robinwood Fire: DTE Energy's Explanation

Updated: Wednesday, 08 Sep 2010, 10:06 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 08 Sep 2010, 7:45 PM EDT

By AMY LANGE
myFOXDetroit.com

DETROIT - The fire commissioner confirms that a blaze was caused by an arcing line in one east side neighborhood on Robinwood near Van Dyke. With all the wind, the flames jumped from house to house.

People in that neighborhood have been upset with DTE Energy because they said they called and told them there was a problem with the line before the fire happened. Wednesday, the company had an explanation.

Cell phone video from Tuesday evening shows the scene right after an arcing falling wire on a windy day caught a garage on Robinwood on fire. It would quickly spread and engulf a neighborhood of abandoned houses and family homes.

"It was jumping like a jumping jack; just boom, boom, boom, all the way right down the line," said Ron Heuer, who recorded the fire on his cell phone. "I've never in my life seen anything like that."

Heuer's mother-in-law and her daughter had called DTE three times on Friday to report flickering lights due to someone stealing power in the neighborhood.

By Tuesday morning, her lights still flickering, Shirley Hargrave was seeing actual flames arcing coming from the line. Once again, she called DTE.

"She told me, 'Well, someone will come out as soon as possible.' I said, 'But, my house could catch on fire.' She said, 'Then you need to call 911,'" said Hargrave.

Tuesday afternoon, Hargrave said she did see a DTE truck. She tried to flag it down, but it didn't stop. She called the power company again.

"She said they knew what they were doing. Give them time," Hargrave said.

We asked Fire Commissioner James Mack about the allegations. He was clearly concerned.

"I'm not happy about that, but that's something that I think the department needs to take up with DTE," said Mack.

FOX 2 also contacted DTE. They tell us they did respond to Hargrave's call, found and fixed a problem with the line between Robinwood and Hollywood. The line that fell is between Robinwood and Quinn behind Hargrave's house, not north of it.

DTE says power theft is proving to be a huge problem.

"We've had people hurt. We've had people killed because of theft, and we have damage to our equipment, which can cause problems and may have led to this one. We don't know for sure, but there's the potential that we need to investigate," said DTE Energy Vice President of Distribution Operations Vincent Dow.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• robinwood
• detroit fires 2010
• september 7 fire detroit
• 20 houses on fire

[TheWaynelds]

@iGaRaai90 You're talking about west robinwood street. This is east robinwood and the fires started from a downed powerline on very windy day that spread from house to house. West Robinwood, on the other hand, was ruined by the scum of the city that torched the houses for no reason. I say fix up E robinwood, but leave W Robinwood as it is and let those fuckers live in the filth they created.

[TheWaynelds]

I had a dream about something like this lastnight. i was coming home from my aunts house after an overnight halloween party & while i was driving down the main road to my house i noticed that almost every house was severely fire damaged from the night before. as i was nearing my house i kept thinking, Oh my GOSH, please let my house be ok. I caught a glimps of my house as i was pulling in the alley and saw that it was charred as well. right after that, i woke up. scary shit, been on edge all day

[MsTesha07]

I grew up on this street my house is still standing but many water problems smh. But Gid Always Made A Way. And after a decade we are still there... But all the house sre gone just big field on both sides. Good thing I'm older now..

[pontiacman75]

Think this is funny......The human race is hungry and asking for your help...i am sorry u have to feel that pain...plz ask for help no matter what they think...i know ur pain and agony......plx w/o is in charge....help us

[djdrummernick]

what name of this song guys so pretty acostic sound hd sound great who does this ?>

[juggla56]

all those homes will remain like that for YEARS!!. theyll never be torn down or remodeled

[farric1]

Those homes would fetch over $1 million each if they were here in Melbourne Australia.

What a bloody shame....

[iGaRaai90]

jesus i would dream to live in some of those homes(pre-fire) such nice architecture it's a shame the negroes got what they wanted which was freedom and no they abuse their "silver spoon" breed theme out!

[DarkMagik0]

20 homes in a row burned? Looks like arson. Am I right or not?

[PNSB101]

How did this start?