Thick smoke billowed from the vacant, crumbling St. Louis house, but Benjamin Polson knew homeless people might be inside taking refuge from the January
Vacant homes, which are especially prone to catch fire, dot the landscape across the U.S. Officials in Baltimore and St. Louis are looking at ways to reduce those risks.
ST. LOUIS — Thick smoke billowed from the vacant, crumbling St. Louis house, but Benjamin Polson knew homeless people might be inside taking refuge from the January chill. So the 33-year-old firefighter went in. It cost him his life. Eleven days later, three Baltimore firefighters died when an abandoned row