Fire consumes the former Globe Grocery building in the New Bohemia neighborhood early Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. (Jill Kasparie/The Gazette)

Firefighters sometimes take a different approach when it comes to battling fires in the city’s flood zones.

Because the buildings are presumed to be unoccupied – such as the former Globe Grocery that burned to the ground Friday – work is often defensive to keep the fire from spreading to other structures, rather than entering to contain the fire, Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow said.

“It is a little bit different, based on the circumstances,” Buelow said, noting that firefighters started with an aggressive attack Friday before walls and part of the roof collapsed. “The preference is not to get firefighters killed for a vacant house.”

Read the story linked above for more details. Are Cedar Rapids firefighters using the right approach when dealing with fires involving abandoned or vacant buildings in the flood zone?