Vacant Buildings Are A Fire Risk To Firefighters

February 26, 2007 California - Fire breaks out in a vacant building, perhaps a rundown house that has been empty for months, maybe years. No big loss, right. Think again, firefighters say. Such blazes endanger neighboring property and people, who often try to put out the fire. And they can be deadly to the firefighters who have to put out the flames, whether anyone lives there or not. Thursday, a fire gutted a vacant west Modesto house and threatened to spread to nearby homes. In the span of a week ...