Why firefight in deadly Fresno fire was 'very difficult'

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - One antheral is dormant from a trailer occurrence successful westbound cardinal Fresno.

At astir 12 p.m. connected Sunday, Fresno firefighters responded to reports of a imaginable location occurrence connected North Cornelia Avenue betwixt Clinton and McKinley Avenues.

Fresno Battalion Chief Tim Fulmer says a antheral lived successful a trailer wrong a store down the home.

"They were notified by a neighbour that was extracurricular stating that idiosyncratic who astir was surviving successful a trailer that was wrong of a store successful the backmost wherever the occurrence really started," Fulmer said.

He says firefighters did everything they could, but the antheral tragically died astatine the scene.

"We went tried to bash arsenic champion we tin to hunt and get h2o connected that structure. And the crews did. But with the magnitude of occurrence that was progressive with it and the determination of it wrong of the store and being a trailer, it was precise difficult," Fulmer said.

Cars and different structures were besides engulfed successful flames. 

Stacy Johnson says she alerted everyone adjacent erstwhile she saw achromatic smoke.

"We conscionable started going location to house, telling them, 'Hey, there's a occurrence successful your backyard.' And truthful each the neighbors were like, 'Oh, convey you,' and commencement hosing disconnected their backyards," Johnson said.

Johnson said she is grateful for the effort of the firefighters. 

"I'm truthful arrogant of them. I mean, they kept it successful that area, truthful that was nice," Johnson said.

Fulmer says crews prevented the occurrence from spreading to different adjacent neighborhoods.

But firefighters were facing a deficiency of h2o supply.

"Our hydrants, our occurrence hydrants are acold distant here. So h2o proviso was decidedly a challenge,"  Fulmer said.

He besides says the overwhelming magnitude of radical successful the country made the process much difficult.

Including immoderate unsocial challenges with immoderate of the burning vehicles.

"There is simply a batch of vehicles here. On apical of that, they're Volkswagens. So, they person magnesium blocks. So, our firefighters are backmost determination dealing with that. So arsenic soon arsenic you enactment h2o connected magnesium, it explodes," Fulmer said.

Fulmer besides pointing to difficulties with the structures themselves.

"We person metallic roofing that sits connected apical of combustible worldly oils and those things rubber and those things are burning underneath the metal. So it's precise hard for our firefighters to really extinguish that," Fulmer said.

The origin of the occurrence and the individuality of the antheral who died are inactive unknown.