SAN BERNARDINO >> An abandoned home burned and was immediately demolished Tuesday, the first day of a new city policy.
Firefighters received a call shortly after 3 p.m. of a fire on the 200 block of E Temple Street, and when they arrived about 5 minutes later found much of the center part of the house was already burning.
“The roof had started to collapse,” said Battalion Chief Alan Duggan. “That was a major danger.”
It wasn’t just dangerous for firefighters — with its structural integrity weakened, the house could collapse onto any squatters or others who tried to enter it, determined the fire, Code Enforcement and Public Works employees who were on scene.
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And so the building, which firefighters say had burned at least two other times in the last year, was determined eligible for the city’s abandoned demolition program.
“Today was the first day,” Duggan said. “The paperwork started a few months back, but if we had walked away from this, it’s definitely a hazard.”
Just the day before, city workers had boarded up the windows of the vacant building, but someone broke in Tuesday, Duggan said.
Electrical lines had been removed at the pole, and the gas company had taken the gas meter, he said.
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“We don’t know what started it.... There was no natural cause of this fire,” Duggan said.
A total of 21 firefighters and two battalion chiefs responded to the fire, which resulted in no firefighter injuries, according to Duggan.