After a structure built in the late 1800s burned down in Fresno’s Chinatown on Sunday, neighborhood leaders say they wish owners of vacant buildings in the area would work harder to keep their properties properly secured.
They say some owners of vacant buildings are not present and virtually impossible to find. Meanwhile, their unattended buildings are accessible to unhoused people and pose a continued fire risk to Chinatown, an area that’s no stranger to the loss of historic buildings from destructive fires.
“We lose a part of our history,” said Jan Minami, executive director of the Chinatown Fresno Foundation. “These buildings were carefully built by one immigrant community or another who were forced across the tracks into Chinatown.”…