Nov. 15 'BURN' Screening Set for Worcester State University
The documentary by filmmakers Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez follows the crew of Detroit's Engine Company 50. Executive producers are actor Denis Leary and Jim Serpico, who was executive producer on Leary's FX series "Rescue Me." MSA and Carhartt are among the documentary's sponsors.
Worcester State University and Mine Safety Appliances Company will host a fundraiser screening of the documentary "BURN" on Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m., with the film's executive producer, Denis Leary, returning to his Worcester, Mass. hometown for the screening. A WSU article about the event also says a Q&A will follow with directors Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez and Detroit firefighters featured in the film.
Putnam and Brenna Sanchez followed the crew of Detroit's Engine Company 50 to film their documentary, which debuted in April 2012 and is being shown around the country. Executive producers are Leary and Jim Serpico, who was executive producer on the actor's FX series "Rescue Me."
Detroit's shrinking population has left behind about 80,000 abandoned homes, and the city has one of the world's highest arson rates. Engine Company 50 is one of the busiest firehouses for a cash-strapped department whose firefighters are called out to an average of 30 structure fires per day, according to the preview article posted by WSU’s Lea Ann Scales.
(Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced Nov. 1 that there were 93 fires, a record low number, during the three-night Angels' Night period, Oct. 29-31, 2012, when more than 5,000 volunteers patrolled streets and kept an eye on vacant structures. There were 25 fires on Oct. 29, 2012, 29 fires on Oct. 30, and 39 fires on Oct. 31, the mayor announced.)
Scales wrote that Leary created The Leary Firefighters Foundation in 2000 in the wake of the Dec. 3, 1999, fire at the abandoned Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co., in which six firefighters -– including Leary's cousin, Jerry Lucey, and a close friend, Lt. Tommy Spencer -- died.