$1.5 Million In Fire Damage: Ann Arbor's Unwanted Record

" ight major fires contributed substanly to make 1971 the worst fire loss year in the history of Ann Arbor. Fire Chief Arthur L. Stauch, a veteran of 32 years with the local fire forcé, calis last year "a real disaster." "Those eight fires amounted to over $1,000,000 in property damage," Stauch says. "We've set a record which we'd rather not claim." The total fire loss in 1971 is $1,500,000 compared to about $900,000 in 1970, the chief reports. And even more d i s m a 1 than the property loss picture is that involving loss of life. Three persons died in fires in Ann Arbor in 1971, including a mother and daughter in a house fire in November. Chief Stauch notes that four of the sight major fires in the city were caused by arsonists with arrests made by members of his Fire Prevention Bureau and city pólice in two of the four cases. The eight fires listed by the chief include the torching of the Veterans Park shelter off Jackson Ave. with damage placed at $35,000; the burglary-arson of Mack Elementary School, 920 Miller Ave., with damage of $30,000; the $30,000 fire loss to an unoccupied home at 1727 Plymouth Rd.; the virtual demolition of the Municipal Court office building at Main and Hurón Sts. with a loss of $425.000; an apartment house on Arch St. where fire caused $59,000 damage; a private home on Page Ct. where two persons lost their lives and $40,000 damage was caused; and the Ann. Arbor Public Schools Administration Building at 1220 Wells St. in which over $200,000 in damage resulted; and the fire at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house, 1437 Washtenaw Ave., with a loss of $250,000. Chief Stauch said although the 1971 fire loss is the highest in the history of the city it is unlikely that the figure will affect local rates for fire insurance. The chief noted that the American Insurance Association, formerly the National Board of Fire Underwriters, makes month-long inspections of a city about every 10 years. The report and recommendations made from the inspection usually determine what the fire insurance rates will be. Rates go up or remain high in communities where there is an inadequate or unreliable water supply, where the local fire force does not meet national standards set for equipment and personnel or where the city's building and safety department is powerless to enforce minimum fire safety ordinances. ' Chief Stauch said these conditions do not exist in Ann Arbor. He said a sixman team from the American Insurance Association spent last July in the city making the 10-year inspection and a report on their findings is expected soon. "While we are not on the association's danger list, so to speak, we are ranked a fifth class city which means we have a good deal of improvement to go to be a really safe community," Chief Stauch said. Cities ranked as first or second class cities have outstanding fire prevention programs, including excellent fire departments. Chief Stauch notes that one of the factors which regularly pushes Ann Arbor up in the fire rankings of the American Insurance Association is the lack of a street fire alarm system. Those communities which have fire boxes on the street have a eonsiderably better ranking than Ann Arbor, he said. City residents must use a telephone to notify the fire department of a blaze and if none is available precious minutes can be lost, Stauch noted. But installation of a fire box system now could cost the city as much as $500,000, he estimated. Of more concern to the chief is the aging fire equipment with which his men completed another year of firéfighting. His department has several pieces of equipment more than 20 years old and the force's rescue truck is 15 years old and in need of frequent repair. Chief Stauch noted that master mechanic William Koernke has virtually rebuilt much of the equipment now in use by the Fire Department and through Koernke's persistence in maintaining the trucks the forcé has been able to use some of the vehicles long after they normally would . have been discarded. But new firéfighting equipment has skyrocketed in cost. A new aerial platform of the type the Ypsilanti Township and Plymouth Township in Wayne County recently purchased now costs $110,000 and regular fire trucks go for more than $40,000 each. Manufacturers take one year for delivery of a fire vehicle after it is ordered. Chief Stauch says the city has made many improvements in his department in recent years, including a raising of department personnel from the 66 listed in 1959 to the 116 now with the force. However national standards recommend I that a city the size of Ann Arbor have a I total firéfighting force of 150. The chief sáid in his budget request fox the 1972-73 fiscal year he will request additional men and new equipment although with the financial pinch beingl experienced by the city he realizes there will be little likelihood of obtaining all his requests. "But it's just a case of more and more i fire work being required of us," he says. "The fire runs alone show that. In 1971 for the first time in the city's history we went over the 2,000 mark for fire calis. That's 300 over 1970. And there's no prospect the 1972 total is going to decrease with the city growing as it is." Stauch says he would like an appropriation to enlarge his Fire Prevention Bureau headed by Fire Marshal John R. Williams who has three inspectors under him. "This small unit does a really tremendous job," the chièf says. "In addition to investigation of all suspicious fires they conduct an intensive public education program, appearing at schools and clubs, promoting fire safety in homes and business places. There's no way to estímate how many fire losses their efforts have prevented." Chief Stauch says public education to the dangers of fire should be a major responsibility for every Fire Department. "We've got to reach the people somehow, to alert them to the misery a fire can bring, to teach them the few simple steps which if taken can avoid a home or business fire," he says. "But we simply can't do that with a four-man Fire Prevention Bureau. We need more men badly." The chief noted that the expanding University of Michigan campus presents special problems for his department. He noted U-M property would cost over $400,000,000 to be replaced and new structures are being erected annually. The fire chief says the outlook for fire prevention in Ann Arbor in 1972 does not appear bright. He cites an undermanned I department, a need for new equipment I and the growing city as major reasons I for the dismal outlook.