Detroit defends fire department after critical report

In this story: Fire department 'not where we want to be' Reporters interviewed 300 firefighters RELATED STORIES, SITES

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- Detroit officials defended their fire department Sunday after The Detroit News published a lengthy expose that alleged faulty trucks, closed stations and mismanagement.

The article claimed problems at the fire department played a role in 21 deaths over the past four years.

While city officials defended the fire department, they acknowledged some problems and vowed to fix them.

The articles, the first in a four-part series, marked the culmination of a nine-month investigation by reporters Melvin Claxton and Charles Hurt.

Fire department 'is not where we want to be'

"Policies followed by Detroit Fire Department officials hampered rescue efforts at these and other fires, contributing to the deaths," they wrote. "In each case, fire officials knew of the danger beforehand but did nothing."

Richard Stein, the mayor's group executive for public safety, disagreed with some of the newspaper's findings.

"I would not state that the fire department is in a terrible state," he said. But, Stein added, "We are not where we want to be."

Stein read a statement from Mayor Dennis Archer defending the department against the allegations.

"Our fire department responds to over 14,000 fires per year," said Archer's statement, "and The Detroit News' analysis of 21 incidents or deaths over a four-year period, or in relationship to 56,000 fires, certainly suggests that you would reasonably expect the fire department to deny the headlines in the newspaper, which infer that mismanagement led to the deaths and injuries, as stated."

Stein said the mayor and fire officials would use the series to identify and make changes within the department. New fire equipment had been purchased or was on order, he said.

"Fire Commissioner (Charles) Wilson has an open checkbook to ensure the safety of the residents of the City of Detroit and his firefighters," Stein said.

Deputy Fire Commissioner Tyrone Scott admitted responsibility for some of the reported allegations.

Reporters interviewed 300 firefighters

"We've done some investigations of our own," he said, "which show that, even though some members report equipment as being okay or safe ... they haven't played their part at the front line ... of firefighting in letting us know if all of that equipment is safe."

Scott also promised to follow up with the fire commissioner on the newspaper's findings.

"As embarrassing as today's stories are, and the series to follow, it provides us an opportunity to identify the problems that exist," Stein said.

The Detroit News said the two reporters visited each of Detroit's 72 fire companies and interviewed more than 300 firefighters for the series. They also reviewed thousands of pages of records, firehouse journals, maintenance reports and dispatch tickets, the newspaper said.

"The Fire Department record keeping follows no established format and information had to be gathered from handwritten entries kept in firehouses across the city," it said. "The information was at times unreliable and even incorrect."

Stein said the department would investigate software packages for use in tracking of repairs and supplies.

Detroit Fire Department

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