Project Description
The Detroit Fire Department built Engine 8 in 1908. Engine 8 was located at 1625 West Lafayette Street near the corner of 10th Street, on Detroit’s lower west side. Engine 8 was built in to assist fire and paramedic services to downtown Detroit. Engine 8 was a two-story, brick structure with stone details and accents. The exterior of Engine 8 featured a red-brick façade with a large garage door for the fire engines to pull in and out of. The garage door featured a stone-border with the words “LADDER COMPANY 12” etched into the stone. Above the stone-bordered, garage door was a set of three tall, narrow, rectangular windows. The windows featured a brick and stone arch that actually extended out form the rest of the façade. Below the set of windows, a small, stone-balcony also extended out from the façade. Below the stone-balcony there was small, intricate, stone dentils that lined the bottom of the balcony. On top of the balcony, a beautiful, ornate, red, iron hand-rail accented the exterior of the fire station. The façade roofline of the red-brick façade featured a stone-cornice that had ornate, stone dentils that followed along the front cornice. Above the detailed stone-cornicing, a brick-pediment with a rooftop peak overlooked the entire front exterior of the building. Extending from the brick-pediment, a large flagpole (without a flag for many years) still sits high above the fire station. Engine 8 of the Detroit Fire Department was a gorgeous building and it would go on to serve Detroit for over 100 years.
In 2012, Engine 8 of the Detroit Fire Department was closed down due to budget cuts and a city-wide restructuring of the fire department. Unfortunately, scrappers broke into the fire station and severely damaged the building. Engine 8 would never re-open again, however it was properly secured with indestructible airplane fiberglass.
As of 2015, Engine 8 still sits abandoned. There are no current plans for the former fire station.
