DETROIT (WXYZ) — Residents who live near 7 Mile Road and John R Street say it’s plagued with problems including prostitution, drugs and fires in abandoned homes.
They say they’d much rather see the vacant, overgrown lots rather than abandoned home after abandoned home. They are potential fire hazards, intentionally set or otherwise.
“Firefighters got hurt today. People love them,” resident Kristina Givens told 7 Action News.“They have family. That’s not right at all.”
Givens, who lives close to the Hollywood Avenue fire scene, said she grew up in the neighborhood. She said abandoned homes are plagued by constant fires.
“I hear it all day and night. All day and night. It’s fires all day and night. Somebody's setting them,” Givens said.
There’s the fire Thursday in which she condemned what could be an arsonist. The blaze injured eight firefighters. She took video of a fire that happened Tuesday night.
“(The city had) knocked some (homes) down. Hopefully they’ll come back,” Givens said.
Resident Rodney Tucker said, “We had a lot of fires a couple of years ago similar to this.”
He said he’s lived in this neighborhood for 20 years. Like Givens, he’d like to see the abandon homes make it onto the city’s list of demolitions.
“(There are) a lot of abandoned buildings. We’ve got a lot of squatters. We have a lot of young guys trying to move in and sell drugs,” Tucker explained. “But these fires are constant.”
“These people just don’t care… whoever’s starting these fires. Because that didn’t just happen by itself,” Tucker continued.
The Michigan Arson Prevention Committee is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction.
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