I've enjoyed the work of Denis Leary, so when I was offered the chance to screen a documentary he'd produced, I assumed it would be of high grit and high quality. Burn delivers on both accounts. The firefighters talk candidly about the rewards and dangers of fighting fires. Perhaps more surprisingly, the fire commissioner talks just as candidly (expletives and all) regarding fighting budget demons. But, Burn has more to show than talking heads. The cameras follow the rescuers directly into the fire. "Not like on the news where you see guys holding hoses outside of burning buildings" one of the fighters says. The images are powerful, the emotional connections deep, the storylines compelling, and difficult dilemmas well-covered.

Since a root problem stems from Detroit's over abundance of vacant structures (80,000) paired with its greatly reduced budget for staff and vehicles, the commissioner suggests letting some vacant buildings just burn instead of risking firefighters and equipment to rescue them. Surprisingly, the firefighters find that strategy difficult to swallow. He also pushes for the demolition of these structures before the arsons get to work (another fine idea, save for high quantities in low budget times). My girlfriend and I noodled the problem after enjoying the doc. Here are a couple of nuggets resulting from our laypersons' brainstorming:

1) Invite residents and/or owners on each city block to "adopt" one of its vacant homes. Send in a city expert to help them organize and dismantle/demolish it on their own.
2) Someone must own these structures. Presumably many are foreclosures owned by the banks etc. Make a law (if there isn't one already) that requires high taxes on vacant properties. These taxes would serve two purposes: to repair fire vehicles and to incentivize owners to either destroy or refurbish these properties. Again, should the owners choose to demolish, the city would send a rep (and perhaps equipment) to assist.

Perhaps you have an idea? Send it in to me (for my curiosity) or the commissioner (for possible consideration).

Btw, interestingly enough this film was funded in part via Kickstarter.com: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/detroitfirefilm/burn

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