Detroit Fire Union President Dan McNamara: The Exit Interview – Deadline Detroit. Dan McNamara, one of the city’s best-known labor leaders, has stepped down as president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association, a post he held for 11 years. McNamara, 59, chose not to run for re-election because he will have to retire from the Detroit Fire Department when he tuns 60 next year, which will fall midway through the two-year term.
A firefighter since 1977, McNamara has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Wayne State University. Shortly after becoming DFFA president in 2002, he was diagnosed with a blood cancer, which he has battled quietly while running the union through some of the most tumultuous times in city history. The interview was conducted by Deadline Detroit's Bill McGraw at the union office last week. It has been edited for clarity and length. DEADLINE DETROIT: There is no collective bargaining for city of Detroit unions these days. DAN McNAMARA: “It’s horribly difficult.
“I don’t know if it will be changed. “No. Detroit fire department gets first of 10 new rigs. Detroit vs. Steve Neavling: Is Story on 'Defective' Fire Rigs Misleading and Wrong? – Deadline Detroit. Update: WXYZ reported on the situation Friday night, as Neavling notes in a Facebook post: "Great story by Ronnie Dahl, a true watchdog reporter who has not fallen under the spell of Mayor Mike Duggan and his incessant cover-ups. " Video below: Dahl's three-minute report, summarized on the station's site with the headline "Sounding the alarm on Detroit's aging fleet of fire rigs," is at the end of this article. The Detroit Fire Department responds with a long list of points on Friday afternoon, accusing the Motor CIty Muckraker news site of misleading and inaccurate reporting on a story about fire rigs responding to fires.
Steve Neavling Steve Neavling of Motor City Muckraker on Thursday night publishes his latest report on the Detroit Fire Department with the headline: 'Rolling the dice:' Detroit routinely sends dangerously defective rigs to fires. " He goes on to report: The Fire Department sent a detailed response to Deadline Detroit and Neavling was given an opportunity to respond. Engines. Detroit's 3 top fire officials ousted | Fire Chief. Detroit fire department. New chief putting mark on Detroit fire dept. In his first months as the new head of Detroit’s beleaguered Fire Department, Eric Jones is building bridges with union leaders, touting improved response times and a decline in arson fires.
But aging infrastructure, worker safety and wages are among the issues that remain on his hefty to-do list. Jones, 47, was appointed to the Detroit Fire Department’s top post in October. That same day, two of the department’s emergency medical technicians suffered serious injuries in a vicious box cutter attack — the most violent among 17 assaults on city EMTs in a one-year span. In a wide-ranging interview with The Detroit News, the fire commissioner detailed the challenges facing the fire department and plans for boosting morale, pay and safety training for the city’s first responders. Outdated infrastructure and technology, Jones says, are getting a revamp. “When I wake up in the morning, it’s challenging. Detroit’s public safety workers are among the lowest paid in the country.
Detroit: Tough Times, Tough Town, Tough Firefighters | Firehouse. The box alarm at the abandoned bungalow on East Kirby Street was a typical fire in Detroit. Flames roared out of the upstairs windows as crews arrived shortly after 5 A.M. on Nov. 15, 2008. Engine 23 rolled up, joined by its housemate, Tactical Mobile Squad 3. There were two other engines, a ladder and a chief. An extra company, serving as a rapid intervention team, and an EMS unit soon made the scene. As another engine stretched, Engine 23 dropped its monitor, firing a surge of 1,000 gallons of water on the structure, and firefighters stormed the house. Engine 23's Walter Harris joined colleagues in advancing a line up the stairs to the second floor. Then they heard something crack.
It was the roof, which crashed down within seconds, burying the firefighters in an avalanche of shingles, rotted timber, dust and smoke. Harris was a firefighter in Detroit, and for firefighters, Detroit is both as good and as bad as it gets. Harris, 38, was a huge, charismatic man with a big smile. Detroit is going dark - Jul. 19, 2013. And if you're walking around the city, it might make sense to bring a flashlight -- about 40% of the 88,000 street lights don't work. Those are two of the problems highlighted by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder as he approved a bankruptcy filing for the state's biggest city.
The problems have fed on themselves, resulting in 78.000 buildings either abandoned or ruined. "Does anybody think it's OK to have 40-year-old trees growing through the roofs of dilapidated houses? " asked emergency manager Kevyn Orr, in a news conference on Friday. Orr said the city had filed for bankruptcy because it would take more than 50 years to pay off the city's $11.5 billion in unsecured debt while not conducting even the most basic maintenance, such as filling potholes and plowing snow. Related: Detroit bankruptcy filing came with only 5 minutes to spare Here are some of the other problems outlined in the bankruptcy filing: -- 70 Superfund hazardous waste sites -- Fire stations are "old and not adequately maintained" Detroit Fire, Police Departments Suffer Deep Cuts.
DETROIT (WWJ) – A city plagued by arson fires now has fewer engines on the streets and police officers on patrol. City budget cuts hit the Detroit police and fire departments this week, eliminating 10 engines and four ladders from the Detroit Fire Department’s budget. Five of the cut engines being removed from service are considered “browned out” in spotty service for the past seven years, according to reports. One of the four ladders cut is also considered “browned out.” The department will also be demoting two battalion chiefs to captain, 15 captains to lieutenant, 41 lieutenants to sergeant and 90 sergeants to firefighters, among other demotions, as part of the cuts. It’s all part of the 2012-13 budget passed by Mayor Dave Bing, which also slashes $75 million — or 18 percent — from the police department’s $414 million budget. Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee said the reduced budget means fewer officers on the streets. The budget took effect July 1.