Film, Motion Picture
Extra Alarms 1965
16mm film containing silent black and white footage of members of the Detroit Fire Department battling fires at twelve different locations in 1965.
In the first section, the fire is at the Wallich Briskey Lumber Bargain Center at 5172 St. Jean Street on January 5th. The fire is shown at night, then the aftermath is shown in the day.
In the second section, firefighters pile damaged furniture into the street from a smoking used furniture store near the intersection of West Forest Avenue, 14th Street, and Grand River Avenue. A sign for an adjacent business--Peter's Cafe--is visible in one shot.
The third fire is at a building with both commercial and residential space on Van Dyke at night. Water from their efforts floods the street. The adjacent Booth Insulation Company building appears to have sustained some damage as well.
In the fourth clip, firefighters work to put out the last remnants of a blaze that destroyed Walker Furniture at 13131 Grand River Avenue on May 24th.
Firefighters use ladders, and a fire truck with an aerial platform to spray and enter the Famous Furniture warehouse at 3940 Gibson Street on July 12th in the fifth clip. A utility worker is also shown scaling and inspecting an adjacent utility pole. The camera follows the firefighters inside where rubble covers the floor.
The sixth clip is of firefighters battling a fire at the Detroit Office Equipment Company at 16921 Livernois Avenue on August 24th. A large cloud of smoke billows from the building as firefighters and fire trucks are gathered in the street below. In the alley, firefighters are shown using hooks to break the building's windows. A crowd across the street is also filmed; and the camera lingers on a trio of men who appear to be of South Asian descent. This segment ends with shots of the building's damaged facade, the stream of water coming from the building's door, and fire engines pulling away.
The seventh clip was shot at a fire at the Phoenix Wire Company's manufacturing plant at 1948 East Kirby Street on October 30th. The camera captures the fire's glow through the building's windows, as the firefighters work at night. In the daytime, the camera captures water flowing into the sewer, and the remains of the building's walls.
In the eighth clip, firefighters respond to a fire at an S.S. Kresge store. The camera captures firefighters preparing to enter the building from an alley entrance, and dragging debris back out of the door. Shopping baskets, a sled, a wagon, and chairs are among the debris they pull in the alley.
A Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company building at 1255 West Vernor Highway is on fire on November 3rd in the ninth clip. A worker with an ax cuts through the building's aluminum structure, and workers with hooks try to pull tires away from the fire.
A night time fire at K. Shapiro Inc. is in a brief clip at night next.
The eleventh clip was shot at the Wayne-Oakland Building Supply Company at 12670 Evergreen Road on December 28th. In a daytime shot, firefighters use hooks to pull down parts of the building's wall, as smoke rises from its interior. Spectators are shown watching the effort from an adjacent street.
The twelfth clip of the reel shows the fire at the New York Central Railroad Roundhouse at 2927 Livernois Avenue on December 29th. First the cloud of smoke is shown as viewed from down the street, as a fire truck speeds toward it. At the scene, numerous fire trucks are gathered around the building. Firefighters use ladders and elevated platforms to spray the building's burning timber frame. A train car within the building can be seen burning through the smoke. The camera briefly cuts away from the firefighters to show a locomotive being rotated on a railway turntable.
The final clip on the reel is of a Detroit Fire Department chief and two men placing a Detroit Fire Department sign on the front of a car with a Buenos Aires license plate."Rivard Martin Aquino, Raid, Argentina, Canada" and "El gauchito" are painted on the side of the car. Several other firefighter-related insignia and decals are displayed on the car's windshield and front. The men drive the car from the fire station followed by a fire truck before the reel ends.
The film's canister also contains a typewritten list of the fires shown in the film, and the damages in money of each:
Extra Alarms
1. Wallich Lumber-- $105,176
2. W. Forest, 14th and Grand River--Used furniture--2nd alarm--$9,000
3. Store and Apartment--Van Dyke--2nd alarm--$17,452
4. Walker Furniture--Grand River--$92,591
5. Famous Furniture--$144,158
6. Detroit Office Supply--Livernois Avenue--$162,889
7. Phoenix Wire--5th alarm--$670,079
8. S.S. Kresge--2nd alarm--$20,000
9. Goodyear Tire--2nd alarm--$130,000
10. K. Shapiro, Inc.--5th alarm--$50,000
11. Wayne-Oakland Building Supply Company--Evergreen Road--$135,000
12. New York Central Railroad Roundhouse--Livernois--$100,000
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Total Losses $946,345
