Highland Park firefighter Scott Ziegler and his colleagues had a busy year, though you might not have noticed.
Detroit's fires attract worldwide attention through media coverage like the the award-winning "BURN" documentary, and they tend to overshadow Highland Park's abundant blazes.
So Ziegler made his own documentary -- with his helmet cam.
The 8-minute video embedded in this story shows Ziegler and fellow firefighters battling fires in everything from automobiles to multi-story apartment buildings.
Ziegler, 27, has been a firefighter for nine years.
He said he did it to show the work the entire department, which, like everything in the financially troubled city, has been cut deeply in recent years. Highland Park's 27-person brigade uses only one engine and one ladder truck. The other rig was smashed by a semi recently and is out of service.
"The guys I work with are incredible and work under some of the toughest conditions," Ziegler said. "Six guys" -- on a shift -- "responding to multiple fires is unheard of."
Among the comments on his Youtube page:
matte11t11 said: "There's always a lot of attention on whats happening in Detroit with all the fires. I think it's about time people hear whats happening in Highland Park. You guys do a hell of a job."
killajedi907 said: "Thanks man! I needed a fire fix, my dept. has barely had any fire calls this year so this is a life saver... AWESOME!"
