'Terrorized' Residents Fear Arsonist Targeting Neighborhood Near Detroit-Hamtramck Border
DETROIT (WWJ) - As firefighters battled multiple fires in a neighborhood along the Detroit-Hamtramck border, furious residents crowded the streets -- wondering if an arsonist is targeting their community.
The fires took off early Thursday morning on the east side near where the Davison Freeway turns into a surface street. Two homes were burning on Moran Street and a couple blocks over, two more homes were burning on Gallagher Street.
"The neighborhood feels terrorized and we're actually feeling scared now," said a woman who lives on Moran. "At first we thought it was just some type of petty thievery or something but this is escalating and the houses are burning down."
DeShay Terrell, who lives near the burning homes on Gallagher Street, said she didn't hear anything but she saw flames and ran out of the home with her dog and teenaged children before calling 911.
"I woke up at 5 o'clock smelling smoke," she said. "I went to the side door and seen that the fire was started so I woke up the kids and we came outside and the fire was blazing."
Over on Moran though, residents experienced a different version of events.
"That house blew up. I heard the explosion," one woman said.
It's similar to an incident that happened just the other night, according to Harrison Bartlett, who owns the Treasure Nest Art House on Moran.
"My garage, two nights ago, right back here was blown up," he said. "It was blown up, literally. I literally went to the back of my house, saw some embers and watched the roof blow up."
Multiple fire crews responded to the neighborhood and extinguished the blazes. No injuries were reported, and investigators say it's too early to say what caused the fires.
But the neighborhood has their minds made up. They're sure they're under attack, and they'd like to see someone take action.
"Where's Mike Duggan here? Like, why doesn't Mike Duggan do anything? All he worries about is graffiti and then he doesn't do anything about bombs that are -- this is terrorism, like, this is ridiculous," said one woman.
Bartlett said he's sure a fire bug is in town -- and that seems to be the consensus among the neighborhood.
"People heard it for a mile," he said of the "bomb" in his garage the other night. "I have had neighbors come say that they woke up and thought it was the end of the world. Literally, shaking houses, people describing water in their houses shaking."
An investigation continues.
