FRESNO (KMJ) — A Downtown Fresno resident has claimed the City of Fresno ignored her complaints about homeless people using a nearby building, days before the structure went up in flames.
Fresno Fire completed their investigation into Monday’s blaze at Belmont and Mariposa and officially declared the cause undetermined, but did note that there was evidence of squatters and cooking materials present in fire’s area of origin. At the time, Deputy Fire Chief Rich Cabral suggested that people living inside were responsible for the blaze (click here to read more).
Nearby residents looked on as the flames spreading through the building were extinguished by crews on scene.
“We’ve been calling about transients going by. We were afraid they’re going to cause fires and we know there’s a lot of drug activity going on there,” said Lucy Luttrell, who lives yards away from the site of the fire.
“We had complaint, complaint, complaint, and nobody has done anything. Last time we went was about last week and told them ‘look, something has to be done before something catches on fire.’
“Sure enough…it caught on fire.”
In a statement, the City of Fresno said its Homeless Task Force was aware of activity in the neighborhood but was unable to witness individuals inside because the windows were improperly boarded up.
“We share the public’s concern over vagrancy and destruction of property and we urge anyone who sees a problem to use our FresGO mobile app to report it. Ultimately, it’s the owner’s responsibility to properly secure and maintain their property.”
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
