So this is kind of embarrassing. I was talking to Judy Olson the other day about the homes that were burned on the corner of Winnebago and 1st St . . . and . . . ahem . . . we both were wondering how this happened. Both of us first heard about it at the Plan Commission meeting on November 21st. And then here’s the embarrassing part . . . we both thought the other one knew about it. It was a surprise to me to hear that the houses would be burned down by the fire department, but I assumed that it was discussed with the neighborhood, that precautions to remove toxic materials would be in place given that it was in the middle of a residential neighborhood and that neighborhood associations knew about it – after all, no one was complaining about it and this is a very involved, very knowledgeable neighborhood. Judy figured that it was mentioned in the plans for the project, that the plan department staff had included it in the materials and reviewed it and that she had somehow just missed it.
Well, apparently we were both mistaken. I went back and looked through the materials. They just talk about demolition of the homes, no mention of burning them. I remember someone asking and we were told that the houses were stripped of everything of value, but that was about it.
So, I went to the Fire Department website to see what they had to say about the incident. I found this press release. Odd, no real mention of burning the homes except this phrase:
Besides the tree demonstration, this recruit training will involve live fire evolutions on Thursday and Friday.
Does this seem a little unclear to you? When you read that press release about the dangers of Christmas tree fires did you know that they would be burning down homes that would be smoldering days later?
Contrast this with another home and barn that were recently burned by the fire department. Seem odd to you that they were concerned about informing the public when they were burning down a house and a barn surrounded by a cornfield, but not when they were burning down homes in the heart of the near east side?
