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On this page you'll find all of our stories on the city of Detroit.Suggest a story here and follow our podcast here.

Commission to investigate response time in Detroit fires

The Detroit Fire Department responds to a fire in 2010. Filmmakers embedded with the DFD for most of 2011.
Patricia Drury
The Detroit Fire Department responds to a fire on August 13th. The Department and DTE Energy is under scrutiny for their response to the Detroit fires on September 7th, 2010.

Michigan Radio's Sarah Hulett reports that the Michigan Public Service Commission is "launching an investigation into
DTE Energy's role in the fires that swept through parts of Detroit last week."

Fires swept through Detroit's east side after utility wires came down in a windstorm on September 7. People living in the area reported slow response times from DTE and from the city of Detroit. They said the fires could have been prevented.

In Hulett's report DTE spokesman Scott Simons said,

We've conducted a detailed review of the phone calls received from our customers, we've reviewed our dispatch logs and our employees involved with the response on that day, and based on the information we've obtained we're convinced that our response was timely and appropriate," said DTE Spokesman Scott Simons.

The Public Service Commission will hold public hearings on the fires on September 29th.

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.