Flint Fires Map

View Flint Fires in a larger map

Thanks to Steve for creating this informative map that captures the scope of the Flint fire crisis.

Flint Fires: Wellington Street

Tara Sifferman, a Flint resident, took several shots of a Thursday morning fire at 211 W. Wellington. The fire destroyed two houses and damaged a third. Go here to see Sifferman's photos in The Flint Journal. And there were more fires Friday night.

Flint Fires: More Houses Torched

Another day, another batch of new fires in Flint.

Laura Angus of The Flint Journal reports:

Fire damaged or destroyed eight homes in a rash of fires this morning, continuing a rash of blazes in the city after 23 firefighters were laid off last week.

Firefighters were dispatched to five fire calls in three hours, starting at 1:16 a.m. at 211 W. Wellington, Battalion Chief Andy Graves said. Four of the five calls involved fires that began in abandoned buildings.

A Scanner Darkly

Yes, you can actually listen to the City of Flint police and fire department scanners online. Go here. Even though the fire department responded to seven calls last night, it's not exactly riviting. But I could only listen for about 30 seconds because it made me feel like I was in a Richard Linklater movie.

Fire Chief on the hotseat

Why would Flint Fire Chief Richard Dicks be running a private security firm — City Security Guard Company Ltd. — out of his home? Isn't running the fire department a pretty big job all by itself? And why would the fire chief's private security firm be doing business with Career Alliance Inc., a troubled non-profit job-training agency? And why is there an ongoing criminal investigation of Career Alliance? Perhaps the FBI was looking for answers when they visited Dicks' home on February 13.