untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Jane Ave was the home of the notorious Jane Avenue Boyz-(JABz), a Cobra set. They shot up the black families home in the 1700 block and drove out entire families in another block.
Flint's east side bears worst arson scars: 'They burned the whole block'
Published: Saturday, January 08, 2011, 7:00 AM
By David Harris | Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan — The city’s east side was the biggest hot spot for arsons in 2010.
There were 145 arsons — about 30 percent of the city’s 486 arsons last year — in the area east of Interstate 475 between Dort Highway and Leith Street, according to a Flint Journal analysis of city fire statistics.
A single east-side block of Jane Avenue between Minnesota and Iowa avenues was the hardest hit in the city, with 20 arsons last year.
What once was lined with houses is now just barren land on the north side of the street.
All that’s left is a burned-out shell of a house. The rest of the charred homes have been bulldozed away and the sites filled with dirt.
View full size(Ryan Garza | The Flint Journal)The ruins of a charred house remain on Jane Avenue between Minnesota and Iowa avenues, where 20 arsons last year made it the hardest-hit block in Flint.
The bark on the trees is still black from the fires. The houses on the south side of the street remain standing but are dilapidated.
“They burned the whole block,” said Allen Willard, 53, who lives in the only occupied house left. “I used to wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. I’d open my eyes, and I’d see flames (reflecting) on my bedroom wall. A house a week started going down.”
City officials said it’s not unusual for the east side to have the most arsons because there are so many abandoned homes, but that arsons went to a whole other level last year.
The other hot spot for arsons was on the city’s north side off Saginaw between Pasadena and Stewart avenues, where firefighters responded to about 110 arsons.
The Flint Fire Department last year responded to almost as many suspected arsons as it did to fires of all types in 2009, according to final statistics from the department.
It fought 486 fires at vacant structures in 2010. Vacant structure fires almost always are considered arsons, according to officials, because there is no electricity to spark the blazes. In 2009, the department responded to a total of 496 fires, 250 of which were suspected arsons, according to statistics.
In all, the city had 761 fires in 2010, by far the most in recent memory.
Fire officials said it was a “long year.”
The highest rate of arsons took place from late March to May after the fire department saw 23 layoffs. The department responded to more than 150 arsons — two and three times as many as usual. Thirty-four firefighters were brought back after the city received a federal grant in May.
According to the Genesee County prosecutor’s office, nine people have been charged in arson-related cases stemming from Flint fires last year.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the investigation into arsonists continues and that the arsons toward the end of the year fit a pattern suggesting they were gang-related. Many were retaliations or meant to scare rivals, he said.
Walling said the environment in some east-side neighborhoods “perpetuated arson.”
Most streets on the east side had at least one arson last year, according to statistics.
A total of 27 fires occurred on all of Jane Avenue.
Much like the rest of the city, Jane suffered the most damage during spring. The heaviest month was in April, when 14 fires broke out.
“It was craziness,” said Nichol Albiar, 26, who lives on the next street over from Jane. “It was kind of scary. It’s really sad nothing’s there.”
Lisa Adams, 44, has lived in her east-side home for more than 25 years. She also said it was sad to see so many homes go down.
“You almost become immune to it,” she said.
Walling said neighborhood stabilization grants will pay to demolish 170 houses in the east side in 2011. For people who live around vacant houses, demolition cannot come soon enough because those homes look like candy to arsonists.
Willard worries about the house next door.
“(That) house will be the death of me if it doesn’t get knocked down,” he said. |
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