Exterior signage facing Greenback Lane which previously identified the building as Fuqua Physical Therapy has been removed. 

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) – Interior demolition of a fire-damaged commercial building on the corner of Dewey Drive and Greenback Lane which was once the former offices of Fuqua Physical Therapy has begun after more than two years.

Sacramento Metro Fire crews responded in September 2023 to a multi-alarm fire just before 3 a.m., which ripped through the commercial building at 6560 Greenback Lane and the subsequent damage in ventilating the fire collapsed its roof.

Boarded-up doors and a faded red tag label on an entry door posted by the City of Citrus Heights have since marked the building “unsafe for occupancy.”

Visible fire damage to the building’s interior can still be seen through some of the exterior windows.

The Messenger previously contacted the property owner in August 2024 to determine plans for the demolition of the building and whether the former physical therapy offices might reopen in Citrus Heights.

Since then, the property and its surrounding parking lot remains ringed by perimeter security fencing and its status was generally unknown.

Marisa Brown, communications officer for the city of Citrus Heights said the city issued demolition permit to the property owner on March 18, 2025.

“There have been no scheduled (physical) inspections, but the applicant has 365 days from the date of issuance to move forward and proceed with inspections. The permit will expire on March 18, 2026,” Brown said.

The acrid smell of fire and ash hangs in the air around the site where a large commercial dumpster situated on a side parking lot, its front doors open is filled with blackened fire debris removed from inside the building awaits a pickup by the contractor.

Exterior signage facing Greenback Lane which previously had identified the building as Fuqua Physical Therapy was also recently removed.

In 2024, Eric Burger, vice-president of administrative services of parent company Burger Rehabilitation Systems, Inc., of Folsom, which bought Citrus Heights-based Fuqua Physical Therapy from its founder Charles Fuqua four years ago, said in an interview with the Messenger that the 2023 fire forced the relocation of hundreds of tis patients to other locations.

The building, Burger said in the same interview, was a “total loss” and would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Efforts to determine and contact Burger or a representative of the current ownership of the building were unsuccessful.

Burger Rehabilitation Systems has 14 locations, including Folsom, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and Roseville. Its outpatient clinic sites in the surrounding area offer a wide range of physical, occupational and speech therapy services.

“It’s not certain whether or not we will be able to reopen the Citrus Heights location at this time,” Burger said in a 2024 Messenger interview.

Burger said he was hopeful at the time that Burger Rehabilitation Systems might be able to open a new clinic in Citrus Heights in the near future, “but that process could take at least two to three years to build and staff a new practice once a new local site could be found.”

No injuries were reported at the time of the 2023 fire, and Metro Fire crews conducted a “rapid fire attack and search of the building,” Capt. Jordan Oakes said in a press statement at the time of the incident. Upon arrival, crews determined it was a commercial fire and then called for additional units, Oakes said.

Burger previously described the extent of fire damage inside the building, which wasn’t generally visible largely from ground street level.

“The interior of the building is largely open to the elements, and major portions of the roof have collapsed,” Burger said.

Since the fire, the Citrus Heights Police Department and the code enforcement team have worked with the property owner to actively monitor the property, said Marisa Brown, city communications officer.