Photographers flock to Detroit to shoot Angels' Night mischief

George Hunter / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Dave Stewart wanted fire and destruction. He knew right where to go.

"If you want to see houses burning, you come to Detroit on Devil's Night," said Stewart, a Needham, Mass., resident who planned his vacation so he could be on hand to photograph the blazes he knew would spring up in Detroit during October's last days.

Stewart is among a group of inferno voyeurs who flocked to Detroit earlier in the week toting cameras and video equipment hoping to capture a tradition they still call "Devil's Night," oblivious to local efforts to give a more angelic name to the fiery proceedings.

At various fires throughout the city the past few days, the visiting corps of photographers lined up near bustling firemen, shooting pictures and joshing each other. Some of them, like Woonsocket, R.I., firefighter David Cigmars, have been coming to Detroit for years.

Detroit firefighters greet the photographers with familiar waves, and even pose for group shots after the blazes are extinguished.

"They don't cause any trouble, and they stay out of the way," one Detroit firefighter said after putting out a fire in an empty house on Beard Thursday on the city's southwestern side. "A lot of them are firemen themselves."

Many of the self-proclaimed "firebugs" post their photos on Web sites, but most of them have indulged in their hobbies long before the Internet came along.

"For years, Detroit has been like a Mecca for fire photographers," said Bill Eisner, who has been shooting pictures for the Detroit Fire Department and various media outlets including The Detroit News, for 48 years.

"They started showing up in droves in the 1980s, when Devil's Night became a national story," Eisner said. "They're pretty dedicated; I love shooting fires, but don't know if I'd spend the money to go to another city."

Some Detroiters, including Rhonda Brimm, resent the group's presence.

"They come in here to take pictures, but for what?" she wondered. "So they can go back and trash our city, and tell everyone how messed up Detroit is? That's not right."

But the "Firebugs" insist they mean no harm. They simply enjoy taking pictures of fires and they know they can find them in Detroit.

"It's just a hobby some people feel very passionately about," Eisner said.

ghunter@detnews.com (313) 222-2134