Richmond firefighters burned down a Pleasant Street home on Sunday as a training exercise and also as a favor to the owners of the property.
The owners were hoping to tear down the home at 179 Pleasant St. so that they could build a new one in its place, said Richmond Fire Chief Matt Roberge. The building had been vacant for many years and was damaged by leaking water.
The burn lasted from 8 a.m. until about 2 p.m., and some area residents expressed concern on the fire departmentās Facebook page about a lack of advanced notice.
The department did post a notice about the burn on that Facebook page on Friday, and Roberge said that the homeowners had notified their immediate neighbors beforehand. But in the future, Roberge said, the department will try to give better notice about upcoming training burns.
āIām always adapting and changing protocols as we go,ā he said.
In a Facebook post, Roberge also assured area residents that state environmental officials inspected the property before the burn to ensure there were no toxic substances in it.
Charles Eichacker ā 621-5642
Twitter: @ceichacker
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