Friday, April 30, 2010

Flint Fires Continue

Vacant homes are still burning in Flint, especially on the east side. Arson is suspected. Sarah A. Miller of The Flint Journal shot some powerful photos of a blaze on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Iowa on Thursday evening. You can see the rest of Miller's photos here.



4 comments:

  1. The picture with the little guy walking through the rubble next to the fire truck is interesting, in that it looks to me, there is a face of a head of a bearded man in the middle of the flames. Can you see it? I thought maybe the fires would have ebbed by now, but the burners seem to be on a roll.

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  2. hey thanks for posting my photos! if it wasn't for that comment I never would have noticed that face in fire. that's creepy.

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  3. Sarah,

    Unclebuck has a keen eye for detail. I didn't notice it either. Your photos are very compelling. I was struck by the casual nature of the bystanders. After so many fires, I'm sure you get worn down by the experience.

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  4. All I can say is , "Lemme outta here...!" We've got two houses, across the street from each other, on Flint's east side. Two weeks ago 3 guys pulled up in front of one of our houses (where my wife's kids and grand kids sleep) and shot the hell out of it... It was the top of the news on WJRT. Luckily, no one was injured (one of the perpetrators was angry with my wife's 22-year-old granddaughter).

    This morning, at about 6 AM, a homeless guy was beating our door down screaming, "Get out, get out - you gotta get out!". A vacant house next door - about 15 feet away from where we were sleeping - had been set on fire.... The fire dept. was screaming at me to move my truck (from the driveway) and I was terrified...the heat was incredible. I was sure the house would go. Luckily, the fire dept. has some automated sprinkler-type things they threw in our driveway.. I can't take anymore. I'm losing it, here. Here are some pics - this was my morning - and I'm supposed to go to work, today - just not up to it.

    http://www.dotheweb.org/3/

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.