Blaze Destroys Buildings After 'Totally Useless' Hydrant, Low Pressure Hamper Firefighters
DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit firefighters battled flames and equipment problems at two different scenes near the Lodge Freeway Wednesday morning.
The first fire broke out at a vacant multi-dwelling home on Calvert Avenue at the Lodge Freeway service drive, just north of Chicago Boulevard.
Fire Chief Gene Biondo said crews dealt with one problem after another -- including winds that caused the fire to spread to a neighboring home, which was also vacant.
"This hydrant we can't use. It's barely got pressure," he told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "They had to open up one of the mains to get us more pressure, but yeah, the hydrant right in front of the house was totally useless. We were pumping from a block down."
The fire completely destroyed both buildings. As crews were finishing up at the scene, another call came in about a blaze nearby at 14th and Lawrence.
When crews arrived at the second scene, the vacant home was completely engulfed in flames. Firefighters again dealt with low water pressure, but were able to keep the flames from spreading to any other dwellings.
Dealing with low water pressure during this time of year isn't anything new, Biondo said, because the mains are so old in this part of the city.
"If they keep them at full pressure, they break. So in the winter time, they try to maintain them as best they can and then when we have an incident like this, they get crews out here as quickly as possible and try to boost the pressure for us," he said.
No injuries were reported at either scene. Causes of both fires remain under investigation.
