How to end illegal fires at empty buildings? Fresno council comes up with the answer

Fresno city leaders have come up with a better way to limit fires at abandoned buildings, at least commercial ones.

The City Council unanimously passed a law last week that will require owners of empty commercial structures to secure those buildings from trespassers and to install fire-suppression systems.

If property owners flaunt the law and continue to let their buildings languish as a health or safety hazard, the law allows for them to be fined from $2,500 to $10,000. In extreme cases of noncompliance, the properties can be seized by the city.

“We have to deincentivize property owners from sitting on their properties and doing the bare minimum,” said City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who proposed the ordinance.

Fires pose great dangers

Sometimes homeless people seek shelter in commercial structures. Sometimes it is trespassers getting into mischief. No matter the source, the problems are serious.

City firefighters have responded to 25 such fires so far this year. Besides the obvious dangers of burning wood and broken glass that are inherent with structure fires, blazes at commercial properties also involve significant unknowns, like whether there is a gas leak or structural problems that might mean upper floors could come crashing down.

“Firefighters shouldn’t be risking their lives for basically abandoned buildings that no one knows anything about,” Fire Department spokesman Shane Brown told Bee reporter Brianna Calix.

The law will create a database of key information. Currently, the city does not have a sense of how many vacant commercial properties there are in Fresno — the city has lacked the authority to develop a registry. That will come about in the new measure, however.

The ordinance requires owners to remove heating systems, overgrown plants, grass or other fire hazards, secure the property, and post “No Trespassing” signs. Owners who buy vacant buildings will have 60 days to bring them into compliance.

Simple finances

Why would a property owner let a building fall into disrepair? Simple finances are often one reason. For buildings that have been owned for decades, the property taxes are low. It makes financial sense to keep the building closed and pay low property taxes each year while hoping to attract an investor someday who will pay many times over the value of the property.

“When we meet with the owners of these buildings, they all have great plans,” said Arias. “But they are all waiting for a great cash payout — doubling or tripling their investment.”

An example of a problem vacant building is the Sample Sanitarium at 311 Fulton St. in the Lowell neighborhood. Howard Biddlecome and his wife bought it in 2001 for $154,000. The stately, three-story former hospital just off Highway 180 boasts a red-tile roof and white walls, and is on the local registry of historic resources.

The Biddlecome family at one time tried to work out a sale with a nonprofit, but it fell through. It has been empty since the 1980s. Today it frequently gets broken into, and as a vacant building is an easy place for illegal dumping and fires.

Investor interest perks up

Since the council’s action, Arias said he has gotten calls from investors looking to buy empty buildings and fix them up.

With property owners on notice that dilapidated structures won’t be tolerated any longer, at least health and safety improvements should be made soon at these buildings, which are in every part of the city. The council was right to take this on. An improved Fresno will be the result.