Fire at vacant, former YMCA in Stockton [Video]

STOCKTON, Calif. — A former YMCA in Stockton is a total loss after a fire started at the vacant building Wednesday.

The Stockton Fire Department said the fire started around 3:50 a.m. along North Center Street and East Park Street. A spokesperson for the fire department said the best strategy for crews responding to the fire was to let the building burn.

“This has been vacant for quite a long time. There have been several attempts to rehab it but it’s been boarded up and secured for a good five, six years, at least, since the previous fire,” Deputy Chief for the Stockton Fire Department, Brandon Doolan, said.

Since there was a fire previously at the building, Doolan said the structure was unstable and based on the size of the building, a large firefight wasn’t a good strategy. Crews instead focused on the defensive aimed to protect a …