At least two engine companies with eight firefighters practiced survival training in the two-story, cinder-block building near the corner of Sixth and Grape streets, said planning chief Larry Anderson.

"If a firefighter gets trapped while doing search and rescue, there are certain skills and processes used to extricate them, everything from how you develop rescue teams to how you deliver air so they can breathe," Anderson said.

The Medford Fire Department has been working on a safety and survival program for the past 14 months, he said.

"A lot of case studies have been done over the years on how firefighters die when it’s related to being in a structure fire and about being trapped," Anderson said. "We got information from that program, sent people to the training and now we’re training our people here."

The Medford Urban Renewal Agency plans to create a parking lot where the two-story building now stands directly behind the Mail Tribune offices. MURA recently awarded the $18,360 demolition bid to Malot Environmental of Central Point.

Nearby La Marinero Restaurante will remain.

MURA and the Mail Tribune are considering a property swap — the Sixth Street Plaza site for a gravel parking lot across from the Holly Theater.