The Peerless Building is an iconic building in Downtown Fresno.
But early Friday morning, someone lit a dumpster behind the historic structure on fire.
The fire then spread to a portion of the building. The fire left behind a charred wall, and the flames shattered a window, which is now boarded up.
“We see alley fires,” said Nader Assemi, who is one of the co-owners of the Peerless Building.
People are trying to stay warm, but this one obviously has a slightly different scale to it.
Assemi has co-owned the Peerless Building for several years.
For him, the Peerless Building is a passion project to help revitalize the downtown area.
“These are not projects that put any money in your pockets, not yet,” said Assemi. “Hopefully, one day, we get there. But right now, the money all gets reinvested in the building.”
Co-owner Nader Assemi is frustrated about what happened. But he’s not letting that stop him from trying to help revitalize the area.
Security video shared with Action News showed a man in what looks like a blue or purple jacket walking to the dumpster.