FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — It was a scene straight out of a movie when a large plume of smoke and flames billowed from inside a vacant building on the corner of Blackstone and McKinley Avenues in Central Fresno Wednesday evening.
Firefighters attacked the fire from above and on the ground with as many as half a dozen Fresno fire engines, strategizing a solution.
“We are going to put the ariels up and knock down as much as we can but I fully expect well end up dropping the building.”
“When crews arrived, they had heavy smoke showing from some windows and the roof,” said Battalion Chief Timothy Fulmer with Fresno City Fire.
Onlookers said the massive fire stopped them in their tracks as the blaze exploded in size.
“You could feel the smoke, like, going into your lungs,” Daniel Garcia, a Fresno City College student who spotted the flames as he walked to the bus stop with friends.
Fresno Fire said flames are not uncommon at this particular location as crews have responded to multiple fires in the past, resulting in similar scenes.
“We do suspect that there’s homeless inside and somebody started a fire, which caused what we have behind here today,” said Battalion Chief Fulmer.
Three dozen firefighters quickly went into rescue mode as they believed there could be individuals inside until the elements became too much.
Once they confirmed that no one was inside, they changed tactics.
Firefighters then switched gears and going into “defensive” mode.
“Which means that we stand back and protect the exposures and buildings around it,” said Battalion Chief Fulmer.
The area is home to boarded-up buildings, which is the result of a decision made last July when the Fresno City Council approved the acquisition of three businesses for a railway project near McKinley and Blackstone Avenues.
RELATED: 3 Fresno businesses to be acquired by city for rail crossing project
The four-way intersection has two railroad crossings at the busy street level.
The new project would lower the road, eliminating the rail crossings altogether.
“It’s honestly just really sad seeing, like, stuff like this happen around like a city that I live in and grew up in,” said Fresno resident Aracly Galindo who commutes through the area.
Fresno Fire investigators have begun its examination into the cause of the fire.
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