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Firefighters burn down old building on Sylvan Road as part of training operation

FIrefighters were seen conducting a live fire training at a building slated to be demolished at 6446 Sylvan Rd. on Wednesday. // CH Sentinel

Sentinel staff report–
A plume of black smoke could be seen in the skies over Citrus Heights on Wednesday morning as firefighters conducted a live fire training operation, which involved the torching of an old building on Sylvan Road.

Metro Fire said in a news release Monday that residents should expect to see and smell smoke in the area near 6446 Sylvan Road on Tuesday and Wednesday. The site is a large parcel next to Heights Church (formerly Bayside Church of Citrus Heights), which fire officials said the church owns.

Firefighters also used the church property for similar trainings last year, and Metro Fire credited the church with providing buildings that were slated for demolition to be used for training. The agency said live fire training offers “the only realistic conditions for firefighter training so that we can maintain our skills, proficiency, and train newer personnel in the situations we face during emergency response.”

The building seen burning at the site Wednesday morning was previously operated as Creative Frontiers Elementary School, which closed in 2011 when its principal, Robert Benson Adams, was arrested on charges of child molestation.

A followup story on the history of the school and its principal will be published this Sunday in The Sentinel’s Weekend Edition.

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