{"id":311578,"date":"2026-05-12T06:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/311578\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T06:24:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:24:33","slug":"two-bodies-found-in-underground-vault-in-downtown-fresno-fire-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/311578\/","title":{"rendered":"Two bodies found in underground vault in downtown Fresno, fire chief says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two people were found dead Monday after a fire broke out inside a utility vault beneath the H Street bridge in downtown Fresno.<\/p>\n

Fresno Fire Department Fire Chief Billy Alcorn said crews arrived after 8 a.m. when smoke was reported coming from underneath the bridge.<\/p>\n

He said smoke was coming from a vault that stored major utility infrastructure serving the downtown area. Construction workers at the scene reportedly saw three people leaving the area where the smoke originated before firefighters arrived.<\/p>\n

Alcorn said firefighters initially faced dangerous conditions due to live electrical equipment inside the confined underground space.<\/p>\n

After coordinating with PG&E and construction crews to shut off power to the vault, rescue teams entered to battle the fire.<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n

Emergency teams responded to the discovery of two bodies found in an underground chamber below the H Street overpass along Fresno Street Monday morning, May 11, 2026 in downtown Fresno.<\/p>\n

(ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we ensured the utilities were off, that\u2019s when we started to make access,\u201d Alcorn said.<\/p>\n

While extinguishing the flames, firefighters discovered and removed one body from inside the vault.<\/p>\n

During a subsequent primary search, crews located a second victim, who was also pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

Alcorn said both victims have not yet been identified, though investigators believe the space may have been occupied by members of the unhoused community.<\/p>\n

Alcorn described the underground area as a narrow utility channel stretching roughly 40 feet beneath the overpass.<\/p>\n

Investigators believe people may have gained access by digging through dirt along the side of the bridge embankment rather than using the secured utility entrance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears that people were trying to live inside of that vault,\u201d Alcorn said. \u201cThere was debris, blankets, property, almost livable conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crews continued searching the area Monday afternoon to ensure no additional victims remained inside.<\/p>\n

Firefighters were removing debris and personal belongings from the vault before declaring the scene fully cleared.<\/p>\n

Alcorn said the operation required technical rescue teams because of the hazardous underground conditions, including limited oxygen and the risk of electrical exposure.<\/p>\n

The incident also caused a power outage affecting parts of downtown Fresno, including nearby high-rise buildings and hotels.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A team member is scrubbed down after emergency teams responded to the discovery of two bodies found in an underground chamber below the H Street overpass along Fresno Street Monday morning, May 11, 2026 in downtown Fresno.<\/p>\n

(ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com)<\/p>\n

Officials said electricity could remain shut off for several hours while crews ensure the fire is completely extinguished and utility equipment is inspected for damage.<\/p>\n

Alcorn said the California Highway Patrol is leading the law enforcement investigation, while the State Fire Marshal\u2019s Office will oversee the fire investigation.<\/p>\n

Fresno police and Fresno fire officials are assisting.<\/p>\n

Authorities are also working to identify and locate the individuals seen leaving the area before firefighters arrived.<\/p>\n

The investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two people were found dead Monday after a fire broke out inside a utility vault beneath the H…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[130565,17774,130563,4853,112,114,113,130564,130357],"class_list":["post-311578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-construction-crews","tag-downtown-fresno","tag-fire-chief-billy-alcorn","tag-firefighters","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-underground-conditions","tag-utility-vault"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311578","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=311578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}