Detroit Fire Porn Tourists Ignite Irritation

The traveling hunters shoot with cameras and capture trophies that show fiery destruction. Detroit is a destination, particularly on and around July 4 -- a dramatically busy time for the city's hard-pressed fire department.

Participants call it "buffing," though some prefer the descriptions photojournalist or freelance photographer to disassociate themselves from fire buffs who don't sell photos. Their websites are aglow with red, orange and smoky images, which are offered to Firehouse Magazine, Fire Engineering, Fire Service News and 1st Responder News.

Some, such as Jeffrey Arnold of Rochester, N.Y., pose with grins at fire scenes:

@firephoto25 on scene in #Detroit on West Brentwood. pic.twitter.com/AJgN03kEE8
— Ken LaBelle (@NRIFirePhotos) July 6, 2015

The phenomenon, which isn't new, generated dozens of vivid images tweeted with the tag #DetroitFire this holiday weekend. It comes to mind that #FirePorn also fits.

Fire-chasing visitors with radio scanners to monitor emergency frequencies came from Burlington, Ontario; Belmont, Mass.; West Haven, Conn.; Andover, Mass. and even distant Murrieta, Calif.

Off-duty firefighters are among the shooters. "It's not unusual while covering a fire for me to run into at least one firefighter from another state taking photos," a journalist from a Detroit daily says in a Facebook comment about our Sunday coverage. "I remember one fire in particular a few years back where there were seven firefighters from a few different states with their cameras. They said Detroit was the place to be to get good photos of firefighters in action, a destination."

Things can get tense between those snapping shutters and those battling blazes, judging by this predawn tweet Sunday from a local buff:

Firefighter in SW Detroit just confronted me and other photographers saying that we are the problem and buffs are starting the fires
— 313FirePhotography (@313firepics) July 5, 2015

Resentment also surfaces on Facebook at Detroit Firehouse, an unofficial page for firefighters, retirees and supporters -- more than 22,000 people in all.

"The circus is back in town. Go back home, idiots," Dustin Fisher of Detroit comments Saturday under a post about "reports of photographers blowing red lights for fires." Brandon Hausbeck adds: "Wack jobs."

A Friday night post there appeals to ~~buffs~~ freelancers for courtesy:

"Please stay out of the fire companies' way. Stay back. Getting word that buffs are getting in the way tonight at fires. . . . Please be mindful and respectful."

A week before the latest influx, Detroit photographer Christina Collie posted this on Instagram with a placid northwest Detroit firehouse interior on Trinity Street:

Our fire department is the hardest worked in the country. Firefighters come from around the world to watch my city burn, and learn from our way-too-experienced firefighters.
While I always love having people visit and explore Detroit, I look forward to the day when they visit for other reasons.

For now, though, here's how a callous visitor from western New York tweets early Sunday amid a bad weekend for Detroit firefighters;

Good morning from #Detroit. pic.twitter.com/qTI88BYzUP
— Jeffrey Arnold (@firephoto25) July 5, 2015

Another crass comment is at the end of this next tweet by a firefighter/paramedic from Bridgeport, Conn., who earlier posted about relishing "an epic 4th of July tour in Detroit."