DETROIT — A Detroit man convicted of starting a fire that injured seven firefighters and left one paralyzed was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday.
Calvin Jones, 42, was accused of starting the fire in August 13 last year. A second man, Samson Wright, was given the same sentence two weeks ago for his role in starting the fire.
During the hearing, it emerged the store owner enlisted the pair to start the fire as he was looking to file a bogus insurance claim.
The fire left Firefighter Brendan Milewski paralyzed from the waist down. He and two others were forced to retire due to their injuries.
Firefighter Milewski delivered this powerful statement to Jones just before he was sentenced.
“It’s quite obvious we both wish the events of August 13, 2010 would have turned out differently. Decisions made that day have changed our lives forever. I made the decision to put on my uniform and come to work to uphold the oath I took to serve the citizens of the city of Detroit – the oath to save lives and protect property.
“You chose to pursue the easy money by committing the crime of arson – a crime that almost every offender gets away with in Detroit because of the arson squad’s overwhelming caseload and lack of resources.
“The odds were in your favor. But those odds changed for both of us when tons of concrete, bricks, and debris rained down on seven hardworking men, leaving four of us fighting for our lives. If none of us had gotten hurt, the ATF, FBI, and the attorney general would have never investigated this case.
“The building was supposed to burn, we were supposed to put it out, and you were supposed to get paid. I wake up every day of my life wishing this was the sequence of events that day.
“I genuinely believe you had no intentions of maliciously injuring anyone in the commission of your crime. Unfortunately, that crime left four wives and three children fearful their husbands/fathers weren’t coming home again … Common sense leads me to believe you and Mr. Wright were purely the ‘fall guys’ in this operation and someone else stands to gain substantially more than you were promised to commit this crime.
“Your decision to go to trial and subsequent conviction has left you facing a life altering prison sentence. Me on the other hand, I’m serving a life sentence in this wheelchair.
“Every aspect of my life has been affected by this injury. From the unbearable physical pain to the mental agony I deal with every time I leave the house. The scars and images from that day never leave my mind. They are so vivid because I never lost consciousness after the wall came down on me. I would trade places with you in a heartbeat and serve your sentence if it meant that one day I will be able to WALK out of prison and enjoy life as I used to.
“No one wins in this situation. You and Mr. Wright are heading to prison, and three of us injured that day were forced to retire from a career we loved.”