Another Central Fresno business is left scorched by fire.<\/p>\n
“A lot of stuff. Samples. Mexican handmade tile,” Art Terzian said about his tile showroom to Action News on Friday.<\/p>\n
It is the third fire at Blackstone and McKinley in three weeks.<\/p>\n
The former Carl’s Jr. across the street burned down late last month, and a vacant stucco facility caught fire earlier this week.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Fire burns 2 vacant buildings in Central Fresno near former Carl’s Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n Terzian first told Action News on Tuesday that it was a matter of time.<\/p>\n “I’m thinking I’m going to be next,” he said after the two previous fires.<\/p>\n RELATED: Central Fresno business owners fear they’re next after recent fires<\/a><\/p>\n By Friday at 4 a.m., a small fire drew a large response. Investigators feared it could spread to the 2,900 pallets of tile inside.<\/p>\n “They don’t understand that,” Terzian said. “They just say, ‘junk,'” he said, referring to the City of Fresno.<\/p>\n Firefighters responded early Friday to a commercial building fire in central Fresno, the third in less than three weeks in the same area.<\/p>\n Terzian is in a bitter court battle with City Hall. His property and at least 16 others are under the city’s control, after officials purchased them to make room for a major railroad project.<\/p>\n Terzian claims he cannot get his inventory out.<\/p>\n “This is completely false,” Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz said. “We’ve been working since March of last year. We’ve set aside $1.5 million to relocate the property.”<\/p>\n Janz says Terzian has been less than cooperative.<\/p>\n “I want to be absolutely clear that if there is any damage to his property, it’s going to be on him, and not the city,” Janz said.<\/p>\n Terzian wants more security. Officials say they already have around-the-clock protection.<\/p>\n But earlier this week, Action News saw a woman inside the tile shop’s back lot. We asked the City Attorney how that could happen.<\/p>\n “There was a part of the property that the city didn’t have access to, and the property owner — the previous property owner — did have access to,” Janz said.<\/p>\n The city has since cut the locks and now has full access.<\/p>\n However, Terzian is still predicting that another fire will occur, fearing it will bring the entire building down.<\/p>\n He does not have insurance.<\/p>\n “That’s part of life,” he said. “What else am I going to do?”<\/p>\n For news updates, follow Gabe Ferris on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n