DETROIT – The Detroit Fire Department is located around the corner from The Fillmore, which is why it is so confusing why they did not respond when an SUV crashed into the theater downtown.
Detroit Fire Engine 1 was called to the scene Monday (Nov. 27) at 2:40 a.m. in the 111 block of West Montcalm Street, which is .02 miles from the theater.
But the fire crew there turned down the order to go, and a crew more than three miles away had to fill in on the fly.
The box office at The Fillmore is literally boxed up after a woman driving on Woodward Avenue could not control her SUV and plowed into the box office, destroying it.
The Detroit Fire Department confirmed that the driver suffered some injuries; the extent of those injuries is unknown.
You would think that the injured driver was lucky as Detroit Fire Engine 1 was dispatched to respond as it is just around the corner from The Fillmore.
Firefighters are trained in medical care and can reach victims oftentimes before EMS. That would have been the case, and at that moment, no one knew if the crash would set The Fillmore on fire – and the firefighters from Engine 1 would be exactly where they needed to be if it did catch on fire.
The crew said they were too busy to go as they were still doing paperwork from an earlier run. But DFD says that paperwork is completed at the run they are on before they leave, which they were doing at the firehouse around the corner.
Police, the fire captain, and medical crews arrived at the scene within a couple of minutes to help the injured woman, but it took the firetruck almost 10 minutes to arrive.
Local 4 drove from Engine 1, stopping at stop signs, driving the speed limit, and we rolled up to The Fillmore in 47 seconds.
DFD said an investigation is underway, and if this crew violated policy, it will be addressed.
