Flint use to be the Carriage Capitol of the United States.  This neighborhood was named Carriage Town in 1982 by residents of the neighborhood who were organizing for community action against neglect and decay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, what's happening to that house?  This doesn't look like a normal "strip" job.  It looks like the house is being completely disassembled.

 

This image could be used in a textbook to illustrate balloon framing.

This image could be used in a textbook to illustrate balloon framing.

 

... and to illustrate why balloon-framed houses are firetraps. They lay a sill atop the foundation and stand 18-foot or longer two-by-fours on it and run them all the way to the attic. All the intermediate framing is nailed to the edges of the wall studs, making an open flue from the basement to the attic. Once a fire gets into the walls, it goes like a blast furnace all the way to the attic and along the floor joists into the space between the first-story ceiling and second-story floor. With old, dry pine and fir lumber, the whole house is involved in a matter of minutes and there's no stopping it.

 

Proper rehab should involve nailing fire-stops between the wall studs at the first-and second-floor levels, to keep fire from migrating both upward and into the cavity between the floor and the ceiling beneath it. Some houses got them when built, but not many that I've seen. Fire-stops along with fire-resistant insulation improve safety a lot.

Sad.

Opportunity.