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Following LODD, St. Louis FD creating database of vacant buildings

After Firefighter Benjamin Polson died in a roof collapse, crews are assessing the city’s more than 10,000 unoccupied buildings

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By Leila Merrill

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Fire Department has started working on a database of vacant buildings and their structural integrity, Fox 2 reported.

Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson started the effort after Firefighter Benjamin Polson was killed when the roof of a vacant building collapsed on him in January.

https://www.facebook.com/StLouisFireDepartment/posts/294306529393611

According to KSDK, fire crews will spend at least an hour each day surveying vacant buildings and assigning them to three categories — “don’t enter under any circumstance,” “ONLY enter to save a life” and “safe to enter.”

The fire department said that the city has more than 10,000 vacant buildings.