The following video is part of a series by the World Socialist Web Site reporters on the dire social conditions prevailing in former auto production centers in Detroit. Here, residents of Detroit and Highland Park denounced the consequences of decayed infrastructure in these cities, as well as the role played by utility monopolies, in the tragic deaths of four people in a Highland Park house fire October 22, 2008.

The first part of this series appeared October 23; video interviews with neighbors and friends of the victims followed October 24. The WSWS conducted further interviews published in the article "Detroit residents and firemen denounce social decay in fire deaths" October 29.