Four Alarm Fire burns Ten Buildings in Central Fresno

The investigation continues tonight into a four alarm fire in central Fresno.

It burned ten buildings, including two homes.

The fire started around 3:30 this afternoon on Calaveras near Hedges, just west of Blackstone and Olive Avenues.

Another fire was reported around the same time about two blocks away on Hedges.

Three fire investigators spent hours this evening talking to people in this neighborhood. And those investigators are looking into whether it was arson or if the wind that spread the flames to a total of ten buildings.

It was chaos. Fire trucks lined Calaveras Street as fire crews scrambled to get water on a fire burning behind a home.

It reportedly started in a palm tree, but quickly spread to a garage and the home.

Eric Gordon says he was inside the home. A friend had just woken him up. And Eric saw the fire.

"I seen that and just bailed out the front as fast as i could," Gordon said.

He wasn’t hurt. The fire continued to grow.

"It went up so fast it was amazing," Gordon said.

Soon three other buildings nearby were on fire.
And two blocks away, another home and four other buildings also caught fire.

"We did have a lot of wind at that moment in time. And embers were coming across the street and they were starting to catch houses on fire across the street," Fresno Fire Chief Kerri Donis said.

A fire started in the backyard of a home right across the street. Neighbors, like Miriam, hurried to help.

"I was really concerned with his back yard because there was a fire there. And he had dogs in a pen, but he opened it and let them out," Miriam said.

Ten different buildings caught fire. Close to fifty fire fighters worked to put out the flames.
Help was called in from neighboring cities: fire fighters from Clovis, Reedley, Sanger and Orange Cove, something that’s usually only seen when there is a major wildfire.

"They’ve come in to help with manpower. They’re replacing some of our crews we had working on the incident for the duration," said Fresno fire fighter Pete Martinez.

The job of fire fighters was complicated by power lines that fell to the ground behind some of the homes.
No one was hurt. And fire crews worked for hours to put those ten different fires out.

The Red Cross is helping eight to ten people who were forced from their homes. And the Central California Animal Disaster Team is providing assistance for their pets.

Investigators are working to determine exactly what caused so much damage in one afternoon.