{"id":328410,"date":"2026-05-22T21:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328410\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T21:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T21:54:08","slug":"second-fire-at-vacant-blackstone-avenue-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328410\/","title":{"rendered":"Second fire at vacant Blackstone Avenue restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the second time in two years, the vacant Bobby Salazar\u2019s on Blackstone Avenue in Fresno caught fire early Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Crews with the Fresno Fire Department responded just after 12:30 a.m. to the 2800 block of North Blackstone Avenue and found flames coming through the roof.<\/p>\n<p>Firefighters knocked down the blaze and remained on scene for about three hours to ensure there were no hot spots, Fresno Fire spokesperson Josh Sellers said.<\/p>\n<p>Firefighters also protected neighboring buildings from damage, Sellers said.<\/p>\n<p>No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n<p>The cause of the fire is under investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The same building caught fire in April 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Restaurant founder Robert \u201cBobby\u201d Salazar is accused in an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/news\/article311859792.html\">arson scheme<\/a> involving Bobby Salazar\u2019s Mexican Restaurant locations in Fresno.<\/p>\n<p>He has been charged with arson of a commercial property and arson in furtherance of a felony.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors allege Salazar hired 40-year-old Thomas Qualls \u2014 identified by investigators as the president of the Screamin-Demons Motorcycle Club in Sanger \u2014 to set the April 2, 2024, fire at the Blackstone Avenue restaurant south of Shields Avenue around 1:30 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>Qualls was arrested <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnosheriff.org\/media-relations\/detectives-arrest-outlaw-motorcycle-gang-leader-for-arson-and-illegal-weapons.html\">May 2, 2024,<\/a> on suspicion of arson, though authorities at the time did not identify the restaurant as the target.<\/p>\n<p>The location at 2839 N. Blackstone Ave., operated by a franchisee, was reportedly struggling before it closed in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"Follow nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/living\/food-drink\/bethany-clough\/article288389315.html\">January 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Salazar increased the property\u2019s insurance coverage by $102,000 about a month before it closed, according to court records.<\/p>\n<p>Records also indicate Salazar collected nearly $1 million in insurance money after the April 2024 fire.<\/p>\n<p>Salazar\u2019s case is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Fresno Bee<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/profile\/218450935\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779486848_73_Anthony Galaviz headshot.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Anthony Galaviz\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/profile\/218450935\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Galaviz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n<p>            Anthony Galaviz writes about sports for The Fresno Bee. He covers the Las Vegas Raiders, high schools, boxing, MMA and junior colleges. He\u2019s been with The Bee since 1997 and attended Fresno City College before graduating from Fresno State with a major in journalism and a minor in criminology.<br \/>\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/fresnobee.com\/subscribe&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;&#009;\" style=\"color: #5169B8; text-transform: none;\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the second time in two years, the vacant Bobby Salazar\u2019s on Blackstone Avenue in Fresno caught fire&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-328410","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\/328410","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=328410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}