Rapaire,
My understanding is that the house was being used "for storage". The old gent who had lived there was a hoarder. He passed away some time ago and the house has just been sitting, unoccupied, but filled with stuff. Because of the amount of "stored" items the firefighters couldn't safely enter the building and a decision was made to let it burn while protecting the neighbouring houses.

I thought it was ironic that when firefighters risk their lives on a daily basis saving people, pets and possessions from fires, nobody says a word, but if they take a quick picture when they are waiting for equipment to be set up there has to be an inquiry about it. It's okay for the news media and neighbours to shoot away and publish numerous photos of the fire on TV, newspapers and the Internet, but if a firefighter takes a personal photo at a blaze, (without neglecting his/her duty in doing so), there is a public outcry.