BURN: The Review

It is hard to describe how I feel after seeing BURN. Really really hard. A part of me is pissed off. Pissed off that a city seems to be hanging out its public safety divisions out to dry. They aren't addressing the issues within the city. They are dangerously close to insolvency and instead of sharing the burden with everyone, they target the biggest line item on the budget, police and fire.

That is no way to run a city. That is no way to run a country. The federal government has balked at the idea of cutting defense, but in the city government they cut the defense first and ask questions later. We are not a third world country and having money to pay firemen is amazing, but the Detroit Fire Department fights more fire arson than any other city in America and yet they have the least amount of resources. A travesty in my eyes. 

There are other issues at work in Detroit causing this travesty besides the elected officials downtown. You have a declining population, high poverty rate, high unemployment rate, and Michigan hasn't come up with a way to attract all the manufacturing plants that have left Detroit to give 29% of their population jobs. So what you have left is a shell that has a rotten middle. It was said in the film, a gallon of gas is still cheaper than a movie ticket. 

Putting this whole situation in Detroit in context, Cleveland has done a fantastic job at reinventing what it is. LTV Steel could have been our Detroit moment. The moment large manufacturing started fleeing the city our medical community was expanding and started bringing jobs into Cleveland. Detroit didn't start to decline quickly. It has been a slow process. It will be a slow process to bring it all back. 

There is another part of me that is just bashing my head against the wall. You see all the time that FEMA is passing out grants for all sorts of things all over the country. Why isn't Detroit seeing any of this money? I think the reason is simple. No one in Detroit has applied for them. That is on the shoulders of the Fire Commissioner, plain and simple. I see suburban departments getting new apparatus all the time, partly because they have a good source of funding, partly because someone in the department has the ability to write a grant and get the free money out there for them.

Detroit isn't a lost cause, BURN shows us in the 90 minute run time. Detroit just needs leadership. They need a mayor willing to back them up. They need a commissioner to advocate to the city for them. They need people like Dan Gilbert buying up property in the city and re-purposing them (see also: Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland). They need to the will to want to change. 

BURN needs to be seen by every single elected official, every fire chief, and every firefighter across the nation. This movie needs to be seen by every citizen who pays their fire department for protection. They need to see how their money is being spent. They need to know it is being used in their best interest. 

Will this movie change minds? It could. It could also be written off as union propaganda, and the truth of the matter, it is the most true story about being a firefighter I have ever seen. Listening to firefighters talk about the movie over a beer afterwards there is one thing that was consistent, "The fires were cool, but once they started talking about the politics of the whole thing, the movie got real."

Fore more information about this movie, Detroit Fire Department, and how you could help go to Detroitfirefilm.org. 

Burn

When I first saw the 9 minute trailer for a documentary called 'Burn' I was blown away. This was in the beginning stages of me falling down the fire photography rabbit hole. Burn showed a side of firefighting you cannot get from films like 'Backdraft' or 'Ladder 49' or even TV shows like 'Emergency!' or 'Chicago Fire'.

All those films and TV shows have their place in entertainment, they are all well done for what they are. But 'Burn' was something different. It wasn't a stylized replication of what firefighters go through on a daily basis in Detroit; it's actually what is happening. The footage in the film is almost a few years old at this point, but I think the film shines a spotlight on many aspects of firefighting that many of us don't even know about. 

We see firemen step off the rig in gear, grab tools, and go into fires. We never see what happens on the inside. In this 9 minute trailer, it shows you the heat, the disorientation, and the heartbreak that comes with a home burning to the ground. 

Finally this film is coming to Cleveland and I have my tickets purchased and ready to go. I can't wait to go there. I would love for you to join me in supporting this film and the brave members who see more fire in 24 hours than most firemen across the country might see in a year or even a career.

This movie also does great things in the way of supporting and creating space in city budgets for professional fire photographers. This film proves that the pictures and video we capture have a place in the discussion about firefighting. Without a group of dedicated filmmakers, photographers, and engineers putting cameras on helmets, this movie never happens.

You can buy tickets for January 14th or 15th, showing at Tower City. If you are a firefighter attending the show on the 15th with me bring your helmet and come 30 minutes early. I want to get some photos of Cleveland supporting Detroit Fire Department and the filmmakers and we can meet the some of the Detroit Firefighters that are featured in the film.  

Tickets are $20.00 online. This is not a typical price for a movie, but this is not a typical movie and it is being delivered in an atypical way. The directors and producers are raising money to put this DVD out by themselves. This is a daunting task with a high cost. 

For tickets go here. 

To donate go to detroitfirefilm.org

Stolen

This post originally was posted in Fire Photographer Magazine but I wanted to share it here as well. Thank you for all your support as always. You are the best. 

Cleveland, Ohio |9-4-2012 | 2240 hours

I just tore my best friend’s car apart looking for one of three missing bags. Minutes ago as we dropped off a fellow blogger and friend at her office in Downtown, she got out to discover her missing bag. Astonished, I got out checking the back of the car, which is the hatch of a Dodge Magnum. As I looked I notice two of my bags were missing. Not where I left them. Missing. Gone. Taken.

How did I get here? What the heck happened?

I am reliving this day in my head over and over again. I was up and out the door by 0615. I met with the PIO of the Cleveland Department of Safety and we car pooled to the Justice Center where I parked and locked my car. Over the shoulders was a blue and orange backpack filled with emergency munchies, change of clothes including my Fire Photography T-Shirt, a Cleveland Browns hat, and my car keys. Over my shoulder was my black shoulder camera bag. In that bag was a Nikon D3100, 2 fully charged batteries, battery charger, two class 10 memory cards (8GB & 16GB), 3 lenses (VR 18-55mm & VR 55-200MM & screw tight Macro Fisheye combo lens, two standard light filters, and the mount for my Tri-Pod.

I was prepared. We met up with the Commander of Navy week which has just concluded in Cleveland. The last frigate, the USS DeWert, was set to steam from Cleveland to Detroit for the next week. Erica, the PIO, Danielle Fink from Channel 3, and me representing Fire Photography Magazine were going to on the ship the whole way. I was tasked to take pictures and video to document the entire day. From cast off to docking in Detroit and everything in between; this was the chance of a lifetime and to do it in conjunction with Cleveland’s Safety Department and Fire Photography Magazine was something I felt very proud to be doing.

To give you a sense of what this magazine does; I disembarked the USS DeWert in Detroit and there was an Engine sitting on the dock waiting for the tanker to fill water barricades. Of course I snapped a few photos of the rig and the guys on it, and introduced myself only by my name and asked me who I wanted to ride with tonight. They told me they liked my work in the magazine and to keep up the good work. Fire departments read my work? People I don’t know like what we are doing? This just solidifies my mission and my decision to do the kind of work I do. To shoot the stuff I shoot. We tell stories that matter to the boots on the ground. To have their support was amazing.

With my two bags over my shoulder, my best friend was there with his car to take the three of us back to Cleveland, but first we were hungry, in need of a beer or two, so we asked a local for a recommendation. They recommended Slow’s BBQ, and it did not disappoint. Half-way into the restaurant we were joking about the crime in Detroit and that we should probably bring stuff in, but we laughed as we hate it when people say that about Cleveland and we sat down. The decision to not go back for my camera will haunt me forever.

We finished dinner and headed to Cleveland. As we pulled into Channel 3’s parking lot, is when we noticed it. Danille’s bag was gone, my camera bag with everything in it including the 800+ photos on the ship and on the dock was with it, and my backpack was gone. Erica’s iPad and bags were left untouched. There were no visible signs of a break in and we just stood there, astonished. We are now just another statistic on Detroit’s crime reputation.

But I stood there, blank, numb, and with anger so red I could feel it pulsing in my toes. Erica called the restaurant and our friends at the Cleveland Police Department. They opened their doors to help start the investigation and pass whatever they had to Detroit, so they can start looking too, that is if someone hasn’t murdered someone that day. They dusted Pat’s car for prints, got a few good ones and they took my prints and the prints of everyone in the car to eliminate prints on the outside of the car.

Their generosity is something I truly appreciate and the people of Cleveland need to appreciate. They help, they will help, and they want to help. I often work with the fire department, and seeing a side of the Police Department no one sees because they can’t unless something bad has happened, is something I will never forget. They picked through everything for any shred of anything we can get.

I might never see my camera again. I will never see the photos I shot on the ship, but the memories and kind hearts of everyone I encountered is more than enough not to give up on the human race.

To all that have helped get the word out about my camera, thank you. I can’t thank you enough for the support. That camera was my livelihood since losing my job in early May. My family has been nothing but supportive, and what is life without your family? My friends who have stepped up, watching the baby while wife was at work and I was on the ship, and then was kind enough to drive us home from Detroit. Last but not least, everyone at the city of Cleveland. Their support in my mission to capture and tell their stories is nothing short of amazing.

To all who have got the story out; Thank you. Really thank you a million times.

An anonymous donor has come forward and offered to help me get a new camera. I am still in tears over this kindness, and I will let you know once I am back on my feet again and shooting fires.