Christmas Tree Lane remains open after train crash that killed Fresno 5-year-old

Fresno Christmas Tree Lane will continue its season on Wednesday following a train collision that killed a 5-year-old boy near the holiday light show on its opening night.

Anton Solorio, 5, was killed when an Amtrak train crashed into the minivan he was in just west of the intersection of Maroa and Shields avenues. Traffic was backed up in both directions along Shields with vehicles waiting to enter Christmas Tree Lane.

The family was in line to see the annual light display.

Fresno Police Deputy Chief Mike Reid on Wednesday said an ongoing investigation into Tuesday night’s train collision revealed the driver of the minivan had room to move forward to a lane to her left or an open concrete area to her right.

Christmas Tree Lane coordinator Dean Alexander was out on Christmas Tree Lane on Tuesday night when he got word of the crash.

“We were shaken up last night,” he said.

Christmas Tree Lane is designed to be an uplifting experience for people during the holiday season and the news was a shock.

“We’re heartbroken,” he said.

“Our hearts go out to the family.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, organizers had not talked with Fresno police about the crash, but said officers do have traffic controls around Shields and Van Ness Avenues, including blocking west bound traffic toward Blackstone Avenue.

This year, Christmas Tree Lane canceled its hugely popular walk-only nights because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the family. In less than a day, the campaign has $1,625 toward its $10,000 goal.

This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 3:28 PM.