{"id":310951,"date":"2026-05-11T22:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/310951\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T22:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:25:09","slug":"2-found-dead-after-fire-in-downtown-fresno-utility-vault-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/310951\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Found Dead After Fire in Downtown Fresno Utility Vault, Officials Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two people were found dead Monday after firefighters extinguished a fire inside a utility vault beneath a downtown Fresno bridge overpass, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Firefighters were dispatched shortly after 8:20 a.m. to the H Street overpass at Fresno Street after reports of smoke in the area, according to the Fresno Fire Department.<\/p>\n

When crews arrived, they determined the smoke was coming from a utility vault beneath the bridge. Construction workers nearby told firefighters they had seen homeless individuals entering the vault earlier in the morning, the department said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Because of the hazardous conditions, firefighters called in the Fresno Fire Department\u2019s Urban Search and Rescue Team, Hazardous Materials Team and emergency medical personnel. Officials said the incident involved a confined space with fire conditions and energized electrical utilities, requiring specialized equipment and training.<\/p>\n

The vault serves as a major electrical distribution circuit for downtown Fresno, officials said.<\/p>\n

Pacific Gas and Electric crews responded to shut off power to the vault before firefighters entered through an access hatch and extinguished the fire.<\/p>\n

During a search of the vault, firefighters found two people inside and removed them from the confined space. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.<\/p>\n

Power remained shut off Monday to the affected electrical system, impacting multiple downtown city blocks.<\/p>\n

Fire investigators and law enforcement officials are working to identify the victims and determine the cause of the fire.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Connect with\u00a0\u00a0on social media. Got a tip? Send an\u00a0.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two people were found dead Monday after firefighters extinguished a fire inside a utility vault beneath a downtown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-310951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}