DETROIT (WXYZ) — A propane tank should never be used indoors, fire officials warn. Unfortunately, that may be what’s behind a fire at a nonprofit flower farm in Detroit, causing major damage and a loss of everything they were growing for the season.

“We lost over a thousand seedlings,” said Tom Milano, co-founder of Detroit Abloom. “Our potted plants got pulverized. All the shelving just desegregated.”

Detroit Abloom is an organization founded by Milano and his wife, Nancy. The group hosts a wellness garden for plant-based diets to help feed the community, along with using cut flower farming, the creation of native plants and sanctuary gardens to repurpose blighted land in the city of Detroit.

Tom Milano said everything just went up in flames after he lit a burner attached to a propane tank inside the organizations hoop house on the city’s east side. The burner, Tom Milano said, fell off the propane tank because the piece connecting it to the nose of the tank broke.

I reached out to a fire marshal to confirm if the small tank was being used properly. I was told no and a propane tank should never be used indoors.

Detroit Abloom organizers said they were not aware of this and that they had been using the tanks for years to heat up the hoop house, so the seedlings could grow.

Along with the seedlings and plants that were destroyed in the fire, so was the hoop house’s plastic roofing.

Now the team is looking to rebuild, but the organization will need to raise money.

“We need to raise like $15,000 to get back to where we were before,” Tom Milano said.

Neighbors who heard about the devastating fire stopped by the hoop house to help clean up.

When I asked them why they came out, their answer was simple: “They’re neighbors,” James Rhodes said. ‘And we help neighbors.”

Tom Milano, said they have never experienced this kind of devastation, but they are hoping the community will step in like Rhodes to help them rebuild.

“Detroit Abloom is all about learning how we can bloom from within,” Tom Milano said. “And as we bloom from within, the world blooms from without.”

To support Detroit Abloom in their rebuilding, visit their fundraising page.

• Mayor Mike Duggan focused on the city’s challenging past and his administration’s work to address grave issues.
• Duggan touted lowering unemployment, boosting public safety and redeveloping multiple sites across Detroit.

Mayor Mike Duggan enchanted an energetic crowd at his final State of the City address inside the new Hudson’s Detroit skyscraper, highlighting his administration’s successes of confronting Detroit’s dire issues over the last decade while reassuring Detroiters a promising future.

Duggan distributed praises among residents, business leaders, Detroit’s clergy community and politicians for helping the city emerge out of his hardships, particularly after the city filed for municipal bankruptcy before his taking office. In his 12 years as mayor, Detroiters have witnessed ample development and building restorations, crime reduction, eliminated abandoned housing and blight and restored recreation centers. But looming neighborhood issues remain, which Duggan cited as the city’s “biggest battle” in the last 12 years.

“I thought we could bring every neighborhood back. It was started by demolishing it at rates faster than anybody in the country,” Duggan said, adding that since taking office, the city had 47,000 abandoned houses. Through a partnership with the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which sold 15,000 houses and expects to have 1,000 by the end of the year, neighborhoods are expected to improve.

Here are some takeaways from his speech:

More: Mayor Mike Duggan drew Dan Gilbert, roaring audience for his final State of the City speech

Increased employment

Many predicted a bleak future for Detroit when the city’s unemployment rate reached nearly 20%, but Duggan attempted to maximize opportunities on the city’s vacant land. Through his tenure, several manufacturers stepped in to develop facilities on those sites, which would open up hundreds or even thousands of jobs.

These included several automotive companies and major businesses, such as Amazon, to anchor a business center at the old State Fairgrounds. Last June, Ford Motor Company restored and reopened the abandoned Michigan Central Station, a long-awaited development showcasing elaborate attention to details in its restoration.

Crime reduction

In 2014, Detroit was considered the “most violent city” as residents and police officers left. The city consistently boosted public safety by hiring more officers, providing them $10,000 in raises and advocated for Community Violence Intervention initiatives that have had a big affect on reducing neighborhood crime. Duggan said 99% of the police department’s positions are filled to date.

Duggan hailed a major drop in homicides in 2024, marking the lowest since 1969, and commended Community Violence Intervention initiatives like ShotStoppers for reducing gun violence in the city.

Growing revenues

Since taking office, Duggan was tasked with balancing the city’s budget and growing revenues. In his latest budget address, he proposed several financial boosts across multiple departments, thanks to increased revenues from more income tax collections as people have moved back to the city — reversing a decades-long decline in population — and new business have opened.

Funding homelessness initiatives to increase shelters and beds, hiring more Detroit Department of Transportation drivers and mechanics, buying new buses, and boosting public safety were among the investment priorities in his $3-billion budget proposal to Detroit City Council.

Riverfront transformation

Several investments include new parks and proposed projects, like bringing a multi-sports complex and an entertainment district to the riverfront.

The mayor highlighted transforming what would have been a condominium complex on the East Riverfront into Gabriel Richard Park, paving the path to further developments along one of Detroit’s most visited attractions. That includes Riverside Park on the west side of the riverfront, which was previously abandoned and closed, and rebuilding AB Ford Park on the east side, and Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park at West Jefferson Avenue and Rosa Parks Boulevard.

RenCen potential

Plans to partially demolish two towers surrounding the Renaissance Center, Michigan’s tallest building and an icon of Detroit’s skyline, have been a subject across the city in a proposed effort to redevelop the riverfront. General Motors moved into the building in 2000 but recently announced it would move into Hudson’s Detroit.

Businessman Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock firm and GM are partnering on a proposal to remove two of the RenCen five towers — those facing the riverfront — while the center hotel tower would remain as a hotel, the two remaining towers would be reconceived: one as an office tower and the other as apartments, which would include affordable housing units. The plan also calls for a quarter-mile park for an entertainment destination similar to Chicago’s Navy Pier. Restoring the two towers proposed for demolition could be an option, but Duggan added it would be cheaper to build entirely new housing due to the building’s layers of steel and concrete, which would require extra work to run plumbing and utilities.

Despite mixed reviews about the RenCen proposal, Duggan promised better days ahead for Detroiters.

“You’re going to have more days like we had last April,” Duggan said, referencing the 2024 NFL draft, which drew about 775,000 visitors, followed by celebrating “an even bigger event … when the (NCAA) Final Four comes to Detroit,” landing a grand applause and cheers from the audience.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit business owners, residents and community leaders gathered for a roundtable discussion reacting to Mayor Mike Duggan’s final State of the City address at The Congregation coffee shop on the city’s west side Tuesday.

7 News Detroit hosted the community conversation with people of diverse backgrounds.

We asked the leaders what they were hoping the mayor would touch on in his final address and then watched his speech together.

Imani Foster is a member of 482 Forward and fights for education justice across the city. She was hoping the mayor would discuss the issues students face inside schools including low literacy levels and higher education opportunities.

Watch coverage of Mike Duggan’s speech below:

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivers his final State of the City address

“I think every child at base level needs to be able to read and comprehend,” she said before the mayor took the stage.

Spencer Ellis is the lead pastor at Citadel of Praise in the Brightmoor neighborhood. He says he’s seen improvement in the neighborhood he lives and works in and hopes to see that progress continue.

“I’ve been in that area for almost 20 years and when we first got there, it was abandoned property after abandoned home after abandoned property,” Ellis said.

Watch Mike Duggan’s full speech below:

FULL SPEECH: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan gives final State of the City

Imhotep Blue is the vice president Detroit 300, a grassroots organization that helps communities by policing targeted neighborhoods, providing support to those who have experienced violent and nonviolent crime. He says mitigating crime and focusing on the city’s youth is top of the priority list to him.

“You have to understand the different dynamics of the different people that come from different areas,” he said.

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Delly is the sister of Rayshawn Bryant, who was an innocent bystander shot and killed at a Detroit Lions tailgate at Eastern Market last September. For her, community safety is most important and she hopes what happened to her brother doesn’t happen to anyone else.

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“I want to feel comfortable in large environments like concerts and festivals within the city and know there’s not a potential that I’ll have to run or hide or that someone I love is gonna be taken away,” Delly said.

Motor City Match recipient and owner of the clothing store Coup D’etat, Angela Wisniewski-Cobbina, says she’s proud of the progress the city has made in the downtown area but hopes some of those successes can be transferred to surrounding neighborhoods.

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“We need to spread some of that love right into the other pockets who aren’t seeing as much,” she said.

The members of our roundtable listened intently to the mayor’s address, taking notes and comparing what he said to what they’re seeing in their own backyards.

In the end, they say they feel hopeful for the city and its future.

“It is an exciting time in the city of Detroit. What I was especially impressed with was the crime rate,” Ellis said.

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However, others were hoping to hear less about development strictly in the downtown area and more about the neighborhoods.

“I think that I did have a little bit of tension and frustration with how much of the focus was on so much of the development happening downtown and leaving the neighborhoods last in his speech,” Foster said. “A nice, pretty city… People stay because they can be rooted in a place.”

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These residents and community leaders say they hope the next mayor can continue pushing the city along and make their city a place everyone can continue to be proud of.

“We want to stay in Detroit, we want to continue to live in Detroit, we just want to see the next mayor that comes after Mayor Duggan take the baton and run with it,” Ellis said.