FLINT, MI -- Over the years, an unwanted tradition has taken its toll on Flint. Devil's Night, the night before Halloween, has brought hundreds of arsons to Flint.
But in recent years, fires have been down. In some part it's thanks to the various volunteer efforts throughout the city meant to curb arsons.
By the numbers, here's a look at Devil's Night in Flint through the years:
1989: The year the city was caught by surprise when Devil's Night fires first showed up in Flint. Before this, the criminal tradition was mostly a Detroit phenomenon, with other cities experiencing more innocent mischief. About 145 fires were reported in Flint. It was so bad that 911 dispatchers started asking people to put out their own leaf fires with garden hoses.
1994: Peak year for Devil's Night fires in Flint. About 200 fires were reported around the city. Detroit also set a Devil's Night record in the same year.
65 percent: Decline in Devil's Night fires from the record year, 1994, to the next year, 1995, when 68 fires were reported.
25: Number of fires in the last four Devil's Nights combined. The city had five fires in 2009, eight in 2010 and six each in 2011 and 2012.
1,500: Number of volunteers who patrolled the street in 1995, part of an initiative to combat the record fires the year before.
120 Days: Jail sentence for a man convicted of ethnic intimidation for a 1994 Devil's Night cross burning in Flint Township. In the incident, a 20-year-old neighbor placed four wooden crosses that were doused in gasoline and set afire in front of a black man's home on Monaco Street.