A study by Syracuse City Auditor Alex Marion shows that roughly two vacant homes or buildings burn down every month in the city, on average.
The study, called Following the Fire, recounts 25 vacant property fires in neighborhoods across the city in 2024, nearly 1/3 of the total number of fires called in to the city fire department. Damages totaled more than $1 million, and the city spent $160,000 to demolish those buildings that were a total loss. Add to that, potential injuries to firefighters putting out the flames.
“It’s a very serious, very expensive problem that puts people's lives at risk every day, makes our neighborhoods of poorer quality, makes our neighborhoods less stable,” Marion said. “But it's a preventable problem, and it is a fixable problem."
Some of the fixes are simple. Instead of just a piece of plywood covering the windows of an abandoned building, use what’s called a “brace and bolt” method of boarding up homes more securely. Another option is to use a picture of a big red X to identify a dangerous building instead of a flimsy 9x11 piece of paper. Other changes could include potential legislative actions, like changes in codes and sharing information between departments about potential problem properties.
“You know, if we had 25 vacant structure fires last year, can we find a way to only have 10 next year?” said Marion. “Can we start implementing solutions to just reduce the scale of this problem? And in time, we can reduce the scale, that's better.”
Marion thinks he has support from lawmakers and the Walsh administration to make some changes, especially after the massive fire at the former Maria Regina College on the city’s north side in March.
“That was a terrifying night to be in the city of Syracuse,” he said. “We had hundreds of people responding to that. And I think that we know full well how dangerous and damaging these can be.”
