DETROIT (WXYZ) — Fire officials say more than one-third of accidental fires in Detroit are electrical, prompting the Detroit Fire Department to launch a new data-driven program to teach residents what to look out for in their own homes.
Watch Tony's story in the video player below:
On Monday, Detroit firefighters shared that seven Detroiters died in accidental fires in all of 2025. This year, that number is already at five lives lost.
Chuck Simms, Executive Fire Commissioner for the Detroit Fire Department, said the new approach targets specific areas.
"So, what we’re doing different here is this is really data driven, and so that way we can focus on the areas and the neighborhoods we need to focus on for education and training," Simms said.
The goal of the program is to prevent tragedies like a fatal electrical fire that happened last August on the 20,000 block of San Juan. On Aug. 26 of last year, a woman lost her life and five other people had to be rescued.
Angela Boone noticed the fire down the block and rushed to help save members of the family trapped inside.
"And so I’m running around the house, like, ‘Where is everybody? Who else is in the house?’ And that’s when I started flagging people down," Boone said.
Joanne Zainwel, who lives across the street and asked not to be shown on camera, administered CPR to a young victim.
"Makes me shaky just thinking about it," Zainwel said. "And I kept pressing his chest and he started to twitch. And I said, ‘OK, he’s coming back.'"
Related Story: Woman dead, 5 hospitalized after fire on Detroit's west side
Detroit fire investigators determined the cause of the San Juan fire was electrical. Many homes in the area are 50 to 100 years old and were built at a time when families may have only used one TV and one toaster.
To help prevent future fires, the department is sharing education tips, including avoiding overloading outlets and power strips, hiring licensed electricians, and unplugging appliances when not in use.
Dennis Richardson, Chief of the Fire Investigation Unit for the Detroit Fire Department, emphasized the importance of community awareness.
"Just getting the word out to help residents prevent these things on their own would be a great help," Richardson said.
Firefighters are bringing this help directly to neighborhoods by hosting fire prevention meetings to spread the word directly to residents. Residents can request a fire prevention and safety demonstration in their neighborhood by clicking here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
