Detroit Fire Department Training Academy

The training to become a member of the Detroit Fire Department is a long and difficult process. All the knowledge required to fight fires and save lives is fed to cadets over several months through classroom learning and practical exercises.

The growth of the fire department in the 1910’s and 20’s resulted in the establishment of a professional training division. In 1930 a purpose-built structure to train firefighters was built on the corner of Warren and Lawton. Much of the building is a hollow tower to allow firefighters to train on the use of ladders ropes, and hand tools. Classrooms and offices make up the rest of the building.

On the first floor are two apparatus bays, which allowed cadets to receive on-the-job training. Engine 12 and Ladder 9 moved to the training academy in 1948 after an explosion at their quarters on 12th Street and Merrick destroyed the building, killing two and injuring 12. They remained there until Engine 12 was disbanded in 1976, followed by Ladder 9 in 1992.

By the late 1990’s the condition of the building had deteriorated due to lack of maintenance to the point where the city ordered it to be demolished in 1998, only the demolition couldn’t go forward because the building was still in use. Inspectors found broken windows, a leaking roof, structural issues, and peeling paint.

It was not until 2015 that the fire department relocated to a new training academy near the city airport. As has become commonplace in the city, storage rooms full of records and reports were left behind. Several suspicious fires caused light damage to the fireproof building, but resulted in injuries to one firefighter in 2018.