The State : Oops! Sorry About That, Santa Clara

Authorities in Santa Clara said the Fire Department’s latest training mission, in which a vacant house was set ablaze to give rookies “hands-on” experience, was a complete success--except for one minor detail: They torched the wrong house. Members of the department’s training battalion, led by Battalion Chief Fred Vandenbrock, drove to a two-bedroom cottage near the University of Santa Clara campus and burned it to the ground. But that house was listed on the city register of historical places, and a member of the city’s Historical and Landmarks Commission arrived too late to prevent the practice fire. The 70-year-old home was already a smoldering pile of rubble and ashes.