This mapping project started out with the simple question:

Where are Detroit’s active firehouses and where are the ones that have been closed over the years?

As with most research endeavors, the path to discovery is almost never linear. Add to this the fact that our official inquiry to the Detroit Fire Department for assistance with active, current units was met with the following response:

Because of the type, nature and/or amount of information you are asking for, the Community Relations Division is unable to fulfill your request. Good luck in your endeavors.

(All I was asking for was a list of active fire companies and their locations.)

Unfortunately for the citizens of Detroit, the DFD has adopted a policy over the years of “browning-out” a company where the unit is not actually de-commissioned, but just sits and is never staffed. So while a company may “appear” active on paper, it never actually responds to a call for service.

What would appear to be an easy task – the location of in service units – was not all that straightforward.

Fortunately the historical pieces of the puzzle were easier to assemble thanks to the dedicated work of previous Detroit Fire Department Historians, namely Richard Lancaster, Clarence Woodard and John Randall, along with the contemporary work of Sheryl Jayson.