Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer rushed from fire to fire trying to figure out why the city's three-year record of stemming Devil's Night arsons was going up in smoke.
In abandoned buildings, vacant lots, and trash bins across the city's east side, scores of fires vexed police and firefighters Sunday night. One small child died of smoke inhalation, and at least four other people were injured.Detroit's fire chief said the number of arsons was significantly higher than normal.
"I just have a nagging anger when I see one fire," Archer told reporters.
Many residents claimed a lower number of volunteer patrols contributed to the resurgence of the dangerous Halloween Eve tradition. In Camden, N.J., which also has a history of Oct. 30 arsons, hundreds of volunteers joined police patrols and were credited with keeping arsons down.
"I don't see nearly the number of volunteers out here as I did last year. It don't make no sense," said Emma Carty, 70, watching in disgust from her porch as flames took over an abandoned house nearby.
About 40,000 volunteers patrolled throughout Detroit last year to keep the number of fires down. An estimated 8,000 volunteers patrolled the streets Sunday night.
Archer, who took office in January, had asked young people ages 17 and under to obey a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on Halloween weekend, and said the night should be called Pre-Halloween instead of Devil's Night, which he found too negative. Police reported 176 curfew violators as of midnight Sunday.
"The new administration thought they could ignore or downplay Devil's Night," Ernestine Gordon, founder of the City Airport Renaissance Association, told the Detroit Free Press. "The new administration has to work with the grassroots people. They can't survive unless they do."
Fire Chief Rodney Parnell said the fire calls began about 6 p.m. Sunday and continued "one after another" until the peak about midnight.