The Oconto County Highway Department will demolish two homes north of the courthouse that were originally scheduled to be burned down by the Oconto Fire Department for a training exercise.
The homes at 226 Jefferson St. and 238 Jefferson St. are located where a law enforcement center will be constructed, north of the courthouse in Oconto.
Oconto Fire Chief Jack Mlnarik said he was unaware that extensive salvage work would occur, when he agreed to use the two homes for training.
“When we went into the agreement, the buildings were not what they are now,” he said.
The porch steps are gone, limiting access to the homes, and doors and windows have been removed, creating openings in the walls that could make training exercises hard to control.
Mlnarik said six or seven fires are typically set and extinguished during a training session, but setting one fire in the Jefferson Street homes might bring them down quickly — and endanger his crew.
“I just didn’t want to put the guys at risk,” he said.
In a LEC update presented to the County Board on Thursday, Oconto County Administrative Coordinator Kevin Hamann said he preferred to have the city burn the buildings, unless an inexpensive alternative could be found.
Statewide Razing, the company removing the other buildings on the block, provided an estimate of $13,000 for demolition of the two homes.
After the County Board met, Hamann consulted with County Board Chairman Lee Rymer and the chairmen of the two committees overseeing the LEC project.
“They all agreed to have the highway department do it,” Hamann said.
The cost was estimated at $20,000 to $25,000.
Hamann said burning the buildings would fill the neighborhood with smoke and soot, and he was uncertain if the Department of Natural Resources would allow the homes to be burned down if the process didn’t involve training exercises.
In addition, the highway department was already assigned to demolish the USDA building at 111 Arbutus Ave. the week of June 8, so the department will mobilize earlier to remove the two homes on Jefferson Street.
As for the cost, Hamann said the money is going from one “pocket” of the county to another.
