What looked like a fire emergency in Folsom, California, was in fact the opening event for a new chapter in the city’s Jewish community.

Rabbi Yossi and Goldie Grossbaum, together with Rabbi Yossi and Yudit Spiero, hosted an official demolition kickoff and Lag BaOmer celebration at 795 Hana Way, the future site of the Chabad Jewish Community Center.

Fire engines lined the street, hoses stretched across the property, and smoke poured from the windows of the existing house as the Folsom Fire Department carried out a live training exercise at the site.

Before the building is demolished, the shluchim arranged for it to be used by firefighters for real-life training, giving the old structure one final use before it makes way for the new center.

Crews moved through dense smoke with limited visibility, practicing fire attack, search and rescue, and coordinated emergency response. Training in an actual home scheduled for demolition gives firefighters experience that is difficult to recreate in standard training facilities.

The exercise will continue over the next two weeks, allowing local firefighters to use the property for additional training scenarios before demolition begins.

For the community, the unusual scene turned a demolition kickoff into something far more memorable. The building that will soon come down was used first to help prepare firefighters who serve the wider city.

Following the fire department demonstration, participants gathered for a Lag BaOmer BBQ and program at the site, marking the start of the next stage in the long-planned project.

The new 23,000-square-foot Chabad Jewish Community Center will serve Folsom, El Dorado Hills and nearby communities, with space for davening, learning, youth programs, community events and Jewish programming.

The event was also covered by KCRA 3 and Folsom Times, bringing wider local attention to the project and to the unusual use of the property before demolition.

Demolition is expected to begin in the coming weeks. The official groundbreaking is scheduled for Sunday, August 16, 2026, at 10:30 AM.

More information about the project is available at folsomfuture.org.