Massive Chinatown fire dubbed ‘accidental’ by investigators

UPDATE: 04/04/17 10:08 p.m.: “Any vacant building, you know, presents an opportunity to individuals needing a place to sleep, a place to cook. Residential properties are not immune to it, (neither are) commercial properties. We have a lot of them in Salinas,” said fire marshal Sam Klemek.

Klemek said his department responds to calls about squatters every day. The buildings are not fire hazards, it’s what goes on inside and around them.

“Sleeping without smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, running generators inside buildings, stealing power from neighboring buildings with substandard wiring, that’s a recipe for disaster,” Klemek said.

One of those disasters was the fire that destroyed a Chinatown building when a homeless man tried to start a cooking fire in an air vent.

Victory Mission, the homeless shelter next door, was spared, but its staff said they do see people hanging around the building.

“We’ve been concerned about it, and there’s been a lot of discussion from agencies, from people on the streets, and why hasn’t this been cleaned up? But we also know it’s a very complicated problem. You don’t just bring a building that size down,” said Ken Cusson, executive director of Victory Mission.

Tending to these vacant buildings is sometimes complicated, even for the fire department.

“I most cases, they are private properties. So, you know, as law enforcement, code enforcement, fire department, we still have codes and we have civil procedures we have to follow before we can take action on these buildings,” Klemek said.

But it’s not just the buildings, the issue of homelessness is also a big concern in the city.

“It’s desperation. They don’t want to go in there, they have to. It’s not that, oh, let’s go find an empty building to stay in tonight. They have no choice. They have to stay somewhere,” Cusson said.

Salinas fire is still looking for the man responsible for starting the fire. He goes by the names of Jesus, Buddah or Pablo.

Anyone with information is asked to call the fire marshal.

PREVIOUS STORY: A massive building fire in Salinas’ Chinatown in March started on accident, according to investigators who released new information on Tuesday.

Salinas Battalion Chief/Fire Marshal Sam Klemek said investigators were able to figure out where the fire started inside “The Swinging Door” at the corner of Soledad and East Market St., with help from the Arson Task Force of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

“Physical evidence at the scene coupled with eyewitness accounts helped us to confirm the circumstances surrounding the cause of the fire,” Klemek said. “According to witnesses, a homeless male was seen lighting a fire in a ventilation opening in the sidewalk at the front entrance of the building in an apparent effort to create a makeshift cooking pit.”

Klemek said a man who goes by the names “Jesus,” “Buddah,” or “Pablo” was seen lighting the cooking fire the day the fire start on Saturday, March 18. Anyone with information about him is asked to call the Salinas Fire Marshal office at 831-758-7422.

“When confronted by employees from the neighboring Victory Mission, the man fled the area while the employees attempted to snuff the flames with fire extinguishers. By this time, the fire had established into the interior of the building through a ventilation opening in the floor, and quickly spread to the second floor of the boarded-up structure,” Klemek said.

The building is currently owned by RANN L.L.C., which also owns other properties in Chinatown and around Salinas, Klemek said. The building was not insured at the time of the fire and damages are estimated at about $325,000.