Detroit Resident: 'This Whole Neighborhood Is Going To Burn Down One Day'

[FarCenter]

(Reuters) - On the night of July 4, some Detroit residents watched fireworks, and others just watched fires, more than a dozen in a space of two hours.

The Independence Day blazes marked the latest flare up of a longtime scourge in Detroit - arson.

It is a problem that has festered in the city for decades and has persisted even as the population declined. With the city now teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, the futile struggle to contain arson is an insistent reminder of the depths of Detroit's decline.
...

Detroit has a legacy of troubles with arson. Hundreds of blazes were set during riots in late July 1967 that followed a police raid on an unlicensed, after-hours bar. For more than 30 years, "Devils Night" fires on the night before Halloween numbered in the hundreds, peaking at around 800 in the mid-1980s.

In recent years, arsons connected to Halloween have declined, in part due to the city's reduced population. Even so, the total number of arsons each year has changed little since the 5,100 fires set in 2000.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/arson-burns-out-of-control-as-detroit-declines-2013-7

[kestrel91316]

1. Eventually there won't be enough abandoned buildings left standing

for arsonists to bother with.