Historic Citrus Packing House Fire Doused In Downtown Riverside

RIVERSIDE, CA — Billowing smoke from a fire inside a downtown Riverside historic citrus packing house building near the 91 Freeway was very visible for Thursday morning commuters.

"Oh man that was a bad one. Saw it on the freeway and was concerned it was going to spread," a Twitter user posted in response to a City of Riverside Fire Department update about the blaze that was reported around 7 a.m. in the area of Vine Street and Mission Inn Avenue.

Battalion Chief Garrett Coryell said five engine crews and two truck companies, numbering nearly three dozen personnel, encountered flames on "all four sides of the building" at 3141 Ninth St., adjacent to Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.

The two-story Spanish colonial structure was once a packing house operated by the Riverside Navel Growers Association, which no longer exists. The 40,000-square-foot building was erected in 1923, according to the city.

Fire crews had the blaze under control by 9:20 a.m. and kept the flames from damaging adjacent buildings.

There were no immediate signs of exactly what triggered the non-injury blaze, but three arson investigators were summoned to begin sifting through the remains to look for clues, according to Coryell.

The building had been vacant for years. Transients frequently set up makeshift sleeping quarters around unused properties downtown, but there was no word on whether squatters had been occupying the structure.

The monetary loss associated with the fire was still being determined.

Images posted to Twitter by the fire department show the blaze caused significant damage to the structure.

—City News Service contributed to this report.