ROCKINGHAM — Firefighters got some training time in Monday evening with a controlled burn on Leak Street.
Rockingham Fire Chief Harold Isler said a fire destroyed the home around two years ago and the City Council approved a demolition ordinance for the property in June.
A building behind the house was also set ablaze.
Several neighbors stepped outside to see the action, unaware that it was a controlled burn.
Two crews attacked the fire from the front, while other crews concentrated on the other sides of the house.
Assistant City Manager John Massey told the RO earlier this month that the cost to the city to demolish a home can range from $4,000-$15,000 depending on if it needs asbestos abatement or if the fire department can use it for training.
“We have to see some type of training value in them before we take them,” Isler told the RO in 2019 about using old homes for controlled burns. That house had caught fire in 2014 and displaced a family of six.
Some homes in past burns have been in good enough shape to allow for interior training.
Earlier this month, two Rockingham firefighters — Josh Watkins and Austin Parker — were promoted to engineer.
