Youngsgtown's demo program cut vacant house fires, chief says

YOUNGSTOWN

Fire Chief John O’Neill credits the city’s demolition program for helping to lower the number of vacant homes that caught fire in 2016.

Crews last year responded to 126 vacant house fires, down from 195 in 2015.

O’Neill said in the past he was taking a wait-and-see attitude about the number of vacant houses declining and having an impact on fires, because he wanted to make sure the numbers weren’t just a fad.

Now the waiting is over.

The number of those fires had been on the decline for the last five years from 255 in 2012, declining for two years in a row and then trending up in 2015. But O’Neill said the drop-off in 2016 was significant, and he credited the city’s aggressive demolition program for knocking down buildings before they are burned down.

Read more about the matter in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.