Fires at vacant Bakersfield buildings continue as cause of frustration

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ( KGET ) — Fire crews scrambled to contain a massive fire located off 18th Street in downtown Bakersfield April 20.

Fire crews also saved two people from a burning building on April 17 in the 1100 block of California Avenue at 3:30 a.m.

And, crews smothered the flames of another fire located on 19th Street on April 16 during the busy work commute at 5 p.m.

Yet, another building was destroyed down the street from Bakersfield High School on California Avenue the first week of April.

All the buildings have the same thing in common: They’re abandoned, except for homeless living inside. They contain mountains of trash, they have easy access, and now they’re in ruins.

Alan Alvarez with the Bakersfield Downtown Business Association owns the old medical building that burned Saturday. He said it’s been abandoned for 15 years. He said this is the fourth time the building has caught fire.

Alvarez said he just bought the building last week. It’s not insured. Now, he’s busy cleaning up the 10,000 square foot mess and vacating the homeless.

“Hey, man, you gotta leave,” Alvarez said toward a homeless man sleeping in the outside stairway of the building on the 2100 block of 18th Street.

Alvarez told 17 News he’s reached out to Bakersfield police and Citiguard Security to ramp up patrols and mitigate the risk of fire danger for his buildings. Alvarez said it starts with the homeless.

The old paint shop on California Avenue was demolished after catching fire early April. Alvarez owns that building too.

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