Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – Time is inching closer before the former Lazzari’s Italian Oven building on South Caraway Road is torn down, but the location served the city one last time this week.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Jonesboro Fire Department (JFD) utilized the 6,661-square-foot commercial building for real-world rescue and training exercises, a rare opportunity made possible by the property’s new owners.
“It’s always really good when we can get an acquired structure like that, that we can go and do some live exercises in,” Fire Chief Marty Hamrick said.
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While they were unable to set the building on fire, Hamrick said firefighters were able to perform other tasks, such as stretching hose lines, conducting searches, ventilating, and tearing down walls.
The property at 2230 South Caraway Road was purchased Feb. 18 for $1 million by the Montano family, who plan to demolish the decades-old building this month to make way for a new development. Recognizing the unique opportunity of an impending demolition, the owners granted JFD full access to the site.
According to Hamrick, getting access to a real commercial building is a big advantage over standard concrete training facilities, where crews can eventually memorize the layout.
“Especially the first few times you’re in there, you don’t know the layout of the inside,” he explained. “So that’s really what they’re practicing, is being able to do it under more lifelike situations.”
The building also provided some unexpected, era-specific challenges for the crews. Hamrick noted that firefighters practicing roof ventilation had to cut through layers of shingles that had built up over the years, providing a unique challenge that a fixed facility could not replicate.
According to a Facebook post from Coldwell Banker Commercial, the real estate office that handled the sale and helped coordinate the training, the collaboration gave firefighters an invaluable environment to “sharpen their skills and continue protecting our community.” Hamrick echoed that appreciation, noting that the real estate firm regularly monitors the department to identify these short-window opportunities.
Specific plans for the property now under the Montano family have not yet been announced, but the physical damage from the training means demolition isn’t far behind.
“Usually when we get the ability to go in and actually flow water and cut holes in the building, the demolition process starts really quick after that,” Hamrick said. “Obviously, they don’t want the building to be sitting there all soaking wet with holes in it.”
Hamrick could not disclose a specific date for when demolition of the building would begin, but Meredith Edwards with Coldwell Banker previously told JRN that demolition is expected in March.
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