Firefighters battle a blaze on East Robinwood Street between Van Dyke and Veach. More than 85 fires, fed by low humidity and wind, were reported. (Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)
Detroit -- Shirley Hargrave lived in her brick bungalow on Robinwood for more than 20 years. Within minutes Tuesday, her family was forced out of their east side home, victims of one of the more than 85 fires that tore through the city.
An "act of Mother Nature" sparked by high winds and some fires labeled suspicious burned at least 19 other homes on the city's east side alone -- most abandoned, Detroit Fire Chief Gregory Williams said.
Within hours of a blaze that raced through a neighbor's home and caught her home on fire, Hargrave and her husband sought shelter with relatives.
"It's too damaged," said her daughter, Stacey Parks, as the family salvaged belongings in plastic totes and bags. "The walls have been burned. There's water damage all over."
The flames, within a four-hour period, were fueled by low humidity and wind gusts of up to 50 mph that downed power lines, further fueling the blazes. Power was out for 36,000 customers -- most in Wayne County -- Tuesday night, down from 50,000 earlier, DTE Energy said.
The Detroit fires included:
"There was a lot of smoke," said Norman Stephen, who works in the area. "I heard the firefighters saying the wind was causing the other places to catch on fire."
Dan McNamara, president of Detroit Fire Fighters Association Local 344, said he heard from others in the city that at one point there were no companies available because they were battling other blazes.
A message on the Firenet service read, "No other fire equipment left in the city."
Karen Dumas, a spokeswoman for the city, said firefighters from Dearborn and Warren were called in to help. If response time was slow, she said, "The issue was demand."
"Our goal is to maintain public safety," she said. "Given the demand of the resources in a short period of time, that was what was done. We had to adapt to those circumstances."
Power lines downed by the high winds reportedly blew sparks causing some blazes that ripped through homes on Van Dyke and Robinwood on Tuesday, city fire officials said.
"Our priority was trying to save the occupied homes," fire chief Williams said, adding the number was not unusually high but seemed so because they were so concentrated. "We've had five to six pockets that have experienced multiple dwelling fires because of winds."
Mary Hargrave, whose mother lives on Robinwood, said she saw someone on a pole trying to steal copper Friday. When she noticed a transformer sparking Tuesday, she called DTE several times with no response, Hargrave said.
"This is ridiculous," she said. "You can call them and they don't do anything, but if you have a shutoff notice they're right there."
DTE spokesman Scott Simons said the utility is investigating the incident.
Because winds were expected to be an issue overnight, it wasn't clear when crews would restore electricity to all customers, Simons said. "It's likely we'll be working into Thursday," he said.
Peak wind gusts from 40-49 mph were reported at Detroit Metro Airport as well as in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Mount Clemens and Monroe, according to the National Weather Service.
The winds accompanied a cold front crossing the region, meteorologist Steve Considine said. Fires spread as the wind gusts whipped temperatures reaching the mid-80s in areas that have seen less than 1 inch of rain so far this month.
"We had a hot dry air mass that moved in today, and the humidity was really low," Considine said of the fire potential.
Winds also are expected to be near 30 mph today with highs in the 60s.
Staff Writer Santiago Esparza contributed.
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