Why are U.P. homes burning – with three elderly dead during daylight?
Greg Peterson
U.P. Breaking News
Owner, News Director
1-906-273-2433
(Upper Peninsula of Michigan) – U.P. Breaking News believes it is time for the U.P. Volunteer Firefighter’s Association to step up to the plate.
Where is the U.P. Fire Chief’s Association?
Stop hiding facts about recent fires.
Blaming the evil press is cop out – especially when most of the U.P. news media is basically docile
Sadly this comes in the wake of the most recent death – 60-year-old Douglas Michael Lintz (born 1956) – who died in his home on Monday afternoon at 1119 N. River Avenue in Iron River, MI.
Why has nothing been said about all the fires – and all the elderly deaths?
Fire officials only released the victim’s name today – and one newspaper speculated there might be more than one victim – a female.
We still do not know officially what happened to the female occupant of the home.
Douglas Michael Lintz, 60, was a native of Utica, Michigan – and graduated from Utica High School in 1974, according to his Facebook page.
Douglas Lintz on Facebook:
Works at Free Agent August 1978 to present
Went to Utica High School Class of 1974
On his Facebook account, Mr. Lintz listed these relatives – more than many people do – indicating his love for family.
Doug, Jr. – Son
Lyn Lintz – Brother
Susan Wyman – Sister
Christine McGuire Niece
Meghan Lintz Niece
Brandon Lintz Nephew
We tried – and are trying – to get photos of all involved – but none existed of the couple in Fulton in Copper Country.
What happened to the other occupant of the home. Who else was home at the time?
Has she been given a place to stay. What is happening? Her name is reportedly Kristine McNamara – and we have reached out to six family members but none have said anything about her status. Would be glad to run info on a fundraiser.
Sometimes the media fears the public doesn’t understand these are real humans unless you see a photo – not a quick blip of 15 seconds on TV news.
There have been so many recent major structure and other fires in Schoolcraft County – no info released – that we have lost count.
Too many people have died and too many homes have burned in past month for the U.P. Firefighters to do their usual run and hide. U.P. Breaking News has immense respect for firefighters and law enforcement – but a lot of blood is now at both of their doorsteps.
Went to the U.P. Firefighter’s Association webpage – and it had not been updated in a long time.
http://u.p.firefighter.tripod.com/
Maybe the shootings and the fires were not the fault of those officials – but it still lands smack in their laps especially when it gets unacceptably high.
We suspect poverty is behind a lot of these goings on – and how state budget cuts have trashed the system from top to bottom like blood letting.
In some TV newsrooms it is a joke – go do the annual smoke detector and batteries story. That can not be the only answer to this horrendous turn of events.
Are the victim’s poverty stricken – have issues not addressed by healthcare – what. What safety precautions were in place or not? If the U.P. Firefighters Association refuses to answer this – then shame on these officials – for all future blood is directly on your hands. You need to try and act like you care more than has been shown. The media is not the enemy – that is old-fashioned thinking.
No more elderly should burn to death (or smoke inhalation) in their homes – especially in broad daylight – without some kind of message from firefighters. There could be many reasons that fire departments do not interact with media (sometimes even the DNR officials act like children with media – only want us to get pictures days later) – but it is high time the U.P. Firefighters Association started to become more relevant.
I have also heard equipment is a big issue – after much was spent on across the trail mammoth big vehicles. How many firefighters are there actively volunteering or working in the U.P.
What are the names of the fire chiefs of each and every department?
Why is information not being released?
Who is to blame for this drastic oversight of public protection (some modern departments would consider it a dereliction of duty)?
What are their home and cell numbers – and lets work out something where info can be reported to a central source and proactively given to the media!
Listen I get it – many Yoopers like to be treated like mushrooms or act like the media is so terrible.
But now that three elderly are dead – we are calling your hand over false provincialism with gatekeepers thinking they are Gods.
Check your smoke detector batteries is not going to get it this time. Why were these elderly trapped – specifically. Why did the fires start – really – not just some woodstove thing.
I can only hope that the U.P. firefighters care enough they can address these fires without some kind of white wash.
There have been too many fires in past month or so – disgusting that the public is not being warned – and if it is different reasons – then the firefighters association should take five minutes and tell us..
About 80 percent of the U.P. serious house fires never get reported by the media.
Whether its intentional due to insurance costs/fire ratings – or for many other reasons like media not listening to scanner, and the fire chiefs (for whatever reasons) do not tell the media and do not return calls. Then some chief’s will call media – but want to play coy – and not say the name of the occupant/owner – even if no injuries.
The U.P. media is very docile compared to the rest of the country – so you can not claim you are trying to protect victims from the menacing media.
(every other fire department in the U.S. releases this basic info – who, what, when, where, why – how). I think with all the death and destruction this year – the U.P. Firefighter’s Association needs to step up.
And let’s not just remind folks about smoke detectors – that are crucial – but have never had a landlord provide me with an easy one to change batteries.
Keith Murphy
Michigan wildfires suppressed by the Department of Natural Resources to date and compared to last year.
Upper Peninsula Breaking News by Greg Peterson 