Fatal Fires in St. Louis, Baltimore Expose Vacant Home Risks

A firefighter reacts after a pile of bricks falls on him from a window eve as crews work to extinguish the fire in the structure in St. Louis, Mo. on Jan. 13, 2022. Colter Peterson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File

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.