Crews to demolish Concord building under construction destroyed by fire

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ByAmy Hollyfield KGO logo
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Crews begin demolishing Concord building destroyed by fire
Crews started demolishing a five-story building that was under construction after it was destroyed by a fire in Concord.

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- Crews are working on demolishing a five-story building that was under construction after it was destroyed by a fire in Concord.

Firefighters have not been able to go in and put this fire out for good as there are still some flare ups. They are worried about the walls collapsing, so engineers have decided the next move is to demolish it.

RELATED: Could fire at Concord building under construction be arson?

Tearing it down will enable firefighters to finally get water in there to the smoldering hot spots.

Investigators will also be able to get in there and finally start looking for the fire's cause. However, their main goal they said is to secure the area so the people who live in the apartment building next door are safe. An evacuation order is in place for that building and nearby streets are shut down, which has also impacted some businesses. "We have these barricades. They don't know when they will be taken down because they think the building is going to come down on Willow Pass Road," business owner Reyes Ramos said.

RELATED: 250 evacuated, 2 injured in 3-alarm Concord fire

Officials said it is unclear at this time if this was arson or if the fire started accidentally.

Demolition started at 8 a.m. Thursday morning and officials said they hope to then start deciding when the next door neighbors can go home.