Detroit Fire Department has been, and continues to go through challenging times as the Motown city recovers from bankruptcy and an unprecedented de-population of what was once the fourth largest city in the nation.
Until November, Craig Dougherty, a 38-year veteran of the department, served as the second deputy fire commissioner in charge of operations and apparatus. In October, a new fire commissioner was appointed with different ideas and Dougherty decided it was time to make his exit.
Dougherty, who started with the department in 1977, served in every rank in the department during his career. He shared his experiences keeping a broken down fleet of fire apparatus ready to protect the blighted city at the Fire Department Safety Officers Association’s 28th annual apparatus symposium.
“It was a very unique time for us,” Dougherty said to firefighters and officers gathered to listen to his story during Tuesday’s general session. He explained that Detroit has the land mass of San Francisco, Boston and Manhattan combined and once had a population of 1.5 million people. It has since fallen to about 700,000 leaving thousands of empty homes and blight on the community that drains resources, he said.
When he was first in charge of apparatus, he had 37 engines to protect the city and 11 of them were out of service requiring significant repair or replacement.