Page 11 - Mid Valley Times 9-12-19 E-edition

Thursday, September 12, 2019 | A11 | Mid Valley TiMes Weekend blazes keep Dinuba firefighters busy By Rick Curiel Mid Valley Times Smoke filled the air in Di- nuba this past weekend as three abandoned buildings caught fire, and transients are believed to be the cause. Early Saturday morning on Sept. 7, at approximately 4:41 a.m., the Dinuba Fire Depart- ment responded to its first weekend fire after receiving a call of a structure fire in the area of North Alta Avenue and Peony Drive. Once on the scene, firefighters, with the assistance of personnel from Cal Fire and the City of Reed- ley, quickly began to put out a fire at the old Alta Market, just north of town. “The fire was through the roof when we got there,” said DFD Battalion Chief Sean Doyle. “But we were able to stop it from getting to Calpine (Calpine Containers Inc., locat- ed nearby on Peony Drive).” The next day, around 8 p.m., a call came in regarding tres- passers at another abandoned building just south of Satur- day’s fire, in the 1100 block of North Alta Avenue. When first responders arrived, they found smoke billowing from the roof of the boarded up structure. “There have been fires there before,” said Doyle re- garding the second fire. The abandoned house on the north- west corner of North Alta and Lindera avenues has had mul- tiple calls in the past regarding transients at the location. Doyle said no transients were found at the location when they arrived and fire personnel were able to quickly bring it under control. Tulare County Fire and the Reedley Fire Department also assisted with the fire. But the biggest fire over the weekend took place on the site where Dinuba’s new high school is set to be built, on a property owned by the Dinuba Unified School District. The two-story house on the cor- ner of South Alta and Kamm avenues has sat abandoned for several years now and has also had its share of transient issues. Because the building actu- ally sits outside the city juris- diction, Dinuba Fire person- nel responded to assist Tulare County Fire early morning obn Sept. 9. Upon arrival, just after 2:15 a.m., Doyle said the struc- ture was fully engulfed. “Being that the building Photos by Rick Curiel / Mid Valley Times ABOVE: Smoke wafted from abandoned two-story struc- ture that was gutted by fire at Alta and Kamm Avenues in the early morning hours on Sept. 9. LEFT: A Dinuba firefighter walked to the back of an engine at the scene of a fire at North Alta and Lindera avenues on Sept. 8. was already slated for demoli- tion, our main job was to make sure to keep the fire safe,” said Doyle. “We made sure to keep it from damaging nearby power lines.” Due to the fact that all three structures were without electrical power, Doyle said all three fires may have been caused by intruders. “I can safely say that they are all suspicious in nature,” Doyle said. “And we do believe that there were people gaining entry into those structures. “I’m not going to call it ar- son, but it’s possible.” Doyle added he hopes that anyone in the community who can provide leads into who may have started the fires should contact the Dinuba Po- lice Department. Said Doyle, “If we had leads, information on suspects, pictures, videos, we would def- initely like to hold these people responsible.” Two of the structures, ac- cording to Doyle, were con- sidered complete losses, with the house on South Alta and Kamm avenues burnt com- pletely to the ground, save a few pillars and two chimneys. The house on the corner of South Alta and Lindera av- enues sustained significant damage. KIDNAP Continued from page A1 for housing but was later released pending further investigation. “We will be resubmit- ting soon,” said Dinuba Police Sergeant Eric Trevino. According to Trevino, the police department is also investigating two oth- er cases that are similar in nature. In both cases, two women were forced at knifepoint to drive out of town where they were subsequently raped. On the evening of Sept. 7, the Dinuba PD was informed of anoth- er abduction case that occurred in the city Di- nuba. Dinuba detectives began an investigation after making contact with an adult female who was being treated at a local hospital. The victim, accord- ing to police, had been walking near a recycling center at sunset in Dinu- ba two days earlier. She reportedly claimed that a man grabbed her, put a knife to her neck, and pulled her into his vehi- cle. Then, police say, the suspect took the victim out to an orchard in the Sultana area where he proceeded to sexual as- sault her. Police say he then brought the victim back to the same area where he abducted her. The suspect was described as a bilingual Hispanic male between the age of 30-40, tall with a thin build, with a mustache, black hair, brown eyes and dark complexion. He was last seen wearing a white and blue check- ered shirt and was driv- ing a dark gray truck. The victim, police say, had seen the person in the area of downtown Di- nuba on prior occasions during which he has mo- tioned her over to him. Police said that a wit- ness also reported be- ing approached on two recent occasions by a subject in a gray truck who offered a ride and asked personal ques- tions. The vehicle is be- ing described as a two- door dark gray truck, slightly lifted with tinted windows. Trevino said the other case involved a special needs juvenile and oc- curred in similar fashion. The Dinuba Police Department is reminding the community to always be aware of their sur- roundings and to report any suspicious behavior. Anyone with infor- mation regarding the cases can call the Di- nuba Police Department at (559) 591-5911 or the anonymous tip line at 591-TIP1. 06348