Annual Halloween Tradition Of Torching Vacant Homes Alive & Well In Michigan

Media reports from Detroit and Flint indicate that the annual Devil's Night / Angels' Night tradition of torching vacant homes during the Halloween period continues to leave local authorities with their hands full:

• The Detroit News: While Angels' Night was relatively quiet compared to previous years in a city accustomed to trouble, that did little to ease the grief of a man who lost his grandmother and uncle in a swift-moving fire Thursday. [...] It was a grim reminder of the potential for destructive fires -- accidental or not -- during Angels' Night, and underscored the need for the more than 50,000 volunteers fanning across the city.

• By Thursday night, 39 fires were reported in the city -- on par with the same period in 2007, said deputy mayoral spokeswoman Meagan Pitts. Some 22 fires were reported Wednesday. During the Halloween period last year, an estimated 147 fires were recorded, Pitts said.

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• Volunteers, including for the first time the National Guard, patrolled neighborhoods on foot, in vehicles or working from CB patrol centers, said [Mayor Kenneth] Cockrel's spokesman Daniel Cherrin. Some pitched in by turning on porch lights and watching neighboring homes for signs of trouble.

For more, see On guard on Angels' Night (Firefighters, volunteers watch over city; 1 blaze claims 2 lives).

• The Flint Journal: Devil's Night is not dead yet. The unwelcome tradition made its annual return Thursday night with house fires that kept firefighters busy across the city. [...] City firefighters were armed with a list of hundreds of vacant homes Thursday night, said [Flint Fire Battalion Chief Theresa] Root. With 40 Flint firefighters on duty for the night, the city had 14 outcounty firefighters stationed around the city at the beginning of the night but called in for reinforcements after the rash of fires.

For more, see Series of fires on Devil's Night stretches Flint, Genesee County fire departments.

For story updates, see:

Detroit not so devilish (11-1-08):

• Vigilance by fire officials and volunteers appears to have kept the number of arsons low in Detroit on the night before Halloween, which had become notorious as “Devil's Night” in years past. Mayoral spokesman Daniel Cherrin said 47 of the 65 fires reported Thursday and early Friday were suspicious. The total reported was consistent with last year.

'Whether it's night or day, this city is burning' (11-4-08) (Fire officials say Angels' Night is needed all year):

• Tens of thousands of volunteers once again helped keep Detroit from burning out of control on Angels' Night, but some local officials say there needs to be more help to prevent arson fires year-round. ArsonForeclosureAlpha