Why Vandalized Fire Station Was Not Secure: Poor Communication

Motor City Muckraker has gotten to the bottom of the vandalizing of recently closed Detroit fire station.

It seemed incredibly irresponsible of the Detroit Fire Department to fail to secure one of its temporarily closed fire stations on the city’s west side – after break-ins at the Engine Co. 49 building on Grand River were reported more than a month ago, Steve Neavling writes.

It wasn’t intentional, Fire Commissioner Don Austin told Motor City Muckraker, which discovered the building was broken into, ransacked and flooded after thieves stole copper plumbing less than three months after it was temporarily shut down.

“A miscommunication led to the property not being better secured, but that facility and similarly closed facilities will be boarded now and in the future,” Austin said. “It’s a shame the facility was vandalized."