Devil's Night

The Halloween fire of Detroit are a cultural phenomenon that partially, but mainly manifests itself in arson in heavy vandalism.

The fires are usually placed at the Devil's or Hell Night ( Devil's or Hell night). In the USA, the night before Halloween is referred to ( from 30th to 31st October). The number of reported fires annually increased from the 1970s until the mid- 1990s, steadily.

Background

The Detroit tradition of devil or hell nights existed since the 1930s. At that time the city youngsters played their fellow citizens merely more or less harmless pranks. Houses were pelted with eggs or rotten fruit or vegetables, kotgefüllte paper bags were placed and lit on porches or in front yards, trees, lights and power poles draped with toilet paper. Property damage occurred only to a small extent or not at all.

In the 1970s it came to the first arson, initially mainly in urban areas, and later in the outskirts. Moreover, took home owners whose property lost on the back then the declining real estate market rapidly in value, the opportunity to burn their houses to complain arson and collect insurance money. The destruction by fire and came to a peak in mid -1980s: In 1984, more than 800 fires counted.

Decline in arson

After a particularly dramatic verlaufenen night in 1994 again over 800 fires organized the former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, a so-called Angel's Night ( Angel night), when in subsequent years up to 50,000 Detroit citizens participated to prevent by night patrols arson. In addition, curfews for young people have been imposed. The number of arsons declined significantly. In the year 2008 136 fires were counted.

Further increase in 2010

Already on September 8, 2010, more than 80 fires were reported, but these were mostly caused by accidents of the ailing power grid during a heavy storm. In Devil's Night, the number of fires then rose again, despite the relatively high number of participants from 12,000 Detroit citizens to patrol the Angel 's Night, by 42 % compared to the previous year (162 compared to 119 fires in 2009 ).

Detroit Fire Department

The Detroit Fire Department is led into the vicious nights regularly to its limits. Within the community of U.S. fire departments so it enjoys a certain special status. The Detroit Fire Department marketed on its website videos, photos and calendar with scenes and motifs of the inserts while the devil nights. A t- shirt design, published in 2008, achieved cult status. More T -Shirt designs are regularly produced from commercial suppliers.