Columbus Fire and Rescue has burned three abandoned homes in the Burns Bottom area as part of an agreement between the Columbus Redevelopment Authority, which owns the properties, and the city.
A total of 18 homes have been slated for demolition by the CRA, said chairman John Acker. CFR will burn nine or 10 of those homes in training fires, while the rest will be demolished by city work crews. The city is charging the CRA a reduced rate to dispose of the home’s remains, Acker said.
CFR Public Relations Officer Anthony Colom confirmed to The Dispatch three training fires were set last week in Burns Bottom. CFR is only burning homes that are nowhere near owner-occupied residences, Acker said.
“We try to work with the fire department on this when we were in the process of demolishing the homes,” Acker said. “We asked if they had any use for them and they agreed to use the ones they could for training. It’s kind of a win-win situation.”
In March 2018, Columbus City Council voted to demolish six homes in Burns Bottom as part of an effort to support the CRA. However, since the entire neighborhood is on the National Register of Historic Places, the CRA had to allow the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to survey the neighborhood in order to be in compliance with state law, effectively halting the process of demolition.
When the survey ended last March, MDAH found one property — the dilapidated Taylor-Burns House, which was one of the original eight CRA marked for demolition — that it put forth to be considered for state landmark status. Ultimately, the house did not receive that status, and the CRA voted to put the house up for sale, citing at least two interested buyers that may be willing to restore the home in accordance with historical standards. Meanwhile, with the MDAH survey over, the CRA was able to proceed with the demolition of homes it already owns. CRA still is negotiating with other property owners to acquire the remaining lots in the project area, including as many as 10 owner-occupied residential lots.
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