Questions asked after firestorm sweeps through Detroit

High winds, downed power lines and abandoned houses are being blamed for 87 fires that ravaged Detroit on Tuesday night.

Detroit residents took to the streets with garden hoses and waited up to two hours for firefighters to arrive as close to 90 fires raged across the city on Tuesday night. Emergency calls began at 3 p.m. after a windstorm knocked over power lines, and plumes of smoke covered several sections of the city. Firefighters were called in from neighbouring suburbs as crews rushed from blaze to blaze. Many Detroit neighbourhoods have a high volume of abandoned houses, which allowed flames to spread for some time before they were noticed. The fall-out of the fires continued yesterday, with many criticizing the city’s practice of deactivating up to twelve fire crews a day due to budget constraints.