DETROIT — Detroit-area firefighters were attacked by a rioting crowd after rescuing two from a house fire, but they were left waiting 13 minutes for a police response Saturday night.
Two died in the fire, and when extended family and neighborhood residents insisted on entering the home, firefighters called for police backup.
“Central, one way or another I am going to need police on the scene,” Chief 5 says in the audio below. “We are starting to get a crowd of unruly citizens and they are starting to come after the firefighters.”
The Detroit Police Department told MyFoxDetroit that, considering travel time and other emergencies in the city that night, the response time was acceptable.
“It was an ugly scene,” Detroit Fire Arson Investigator Patrick McNulty told the Detroit Free Press. “The firemen felt like they were close to turning the water on people. They’re outnumbered. There were a lot of people out there.”
Dan McNamara, head of the firefighters union, told the Detroit Free Press that no police officers were available when firefighters first called for help.
“We’re unprotected out here,” he said.