This week our ASS (not an actual anatomical part, but rather the Abandoned Structure Squad) landed, figuratively speaking, on a charred mattress along the 14200 block of Eastwood just off Gratiot on Detroit’s East Side. Actually, we’re not being completely accurate when we say the aforementioned bedding was outside the house because, technically, there is no longer an inside.
Robert Brown, who lives one house down from the burnt building, reports that fire destroyed the structure within the past month. The conflagration started early in the morning.
“I woke up to go to work and saw this house tore up,” says Brown.
Other neighbors say that it took the Fire Department about an hour to get to the scene and another two hours to put the blaze out.
People in the neighborhood are hot under the collar because there are about five other houses on the same street that have been devastated by fire or just abandoned, and they want to see something done.
Jean Morris, who lives in a nearby apartment, says this house appears to be a particular hazard. It is apparent to the untrained semiprofessionals here at ASS that there’s not much holding up what little of the building there is that remains standing.
“It’s dangerous, very, very dangerous,” says Morris. “It needs to be torn down.”
Editor’s note: If you know of an abandoned home you would like to see featured in this spot, send a photo and pertinent information to News Hits, c/o Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 48226 (or e-mail [email protected]).
Check out all of our Abandoned Shelters of the Week
