Burn is a compelling, thought provoking and emotionally engaging documentary about the brave men of the Detroit Fire Department. With over 80,000 abandoned homes in this once heavily populated city, the men of the DFD must deal with over 30 fires per day. Underfunded, underpaid and with equipment in bad need of repair they will risk their lives for their community against all odds.

(This is a repost of my initial review when Burn opened the Revelation Film Festival)

The film holds no punches as we go head first into fires with the men of Engine Company 50 and follow their lives. The shots of the half abandoned Detroit are haunting. “It’s like Katrina without the Hurricane” as one of the team aptly states. Your heart would have to be made of stone not to feel something following the life of one of their own who was crippled in a horrible accident or the old veteran heading towards retirement with nothing else left after the death of his wife. The film has stayed with me every moment since

The doco is wonderfully shot by film makers Brenna Sanchez and Tom Putman. Not content to film from outside the blazes, we, the viewer, are strapped to the helmets of Detroit’s bravest in the one town where they fight fires from the inside out and not the outside in. This doesn’t feel like a small, independent film as the production values are top notch. The outstanding visuals are matched by a soundtrack of classic Detroit rock.

After wowing us all at the Revelation Film Festival, Burn is showing at Event Cinemas Innaloo for three days only from the 21st of March.