Ok, I'm probably going to get flamed for this [[no pun intended), but it's a question that's been bugging me for awhile.

Some time ago my family and I stopped in at good ol' Scotty Simpsons for dinner. Afterwards we just sort of cruised around the streets of the Brightmoor neighborhood since it's been quite awhile since we've seen the area.

I liked seeing the number of small urban farms cropping up [[on man.. more puns) here and there where houses once stood, but we were floored by the sheer number of burned out husks of what used to be homes. I think the number of abandoned, burned out houses outnumbered the those you could barely deem as livable.

So, to my question. When one of these houses goes up in flames, why bother taking the time and risk of life to put it out? Seems to me like that once the fire dept leaves, that house is now more of a danger than it was when it was intact. Questionable floors, roofs that look like they could collapse if a stiff wind blows in, etc.... Why not just let them burn to the ground and be done with it? Yes, work to prevent any surrounding structures from igniting, but why not just treat the house as a controlled burn and let it go.