Concord Boulevard To Close For Crane Removal

CONCORD, CA — A main thoroughfare in Concord will be closed this weekend while crews dismantle and remove a crane used in the building of an apartment complex that burned down while previously being under construction last year. All three lanes of westbound Concord Boulevard will be closed between Galindo Street and Mira Vista Terrace starting 6 a.m. Saturday for the removal of the crane that is helping to rebuild the second phase of the Renaissance Square apartments.

The road is expected to reopen by 7 p.m. Sunday and detours will be in effect for motorists, according to the city.

Arson was the cause of the three-alarm fire on April 24, 2018, with $55 million in damage caused to the 180-unit complex and prompting the evacuation of about 250 people from the adjacent apartments in the first phase of the project.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made that determination a month later and released a video of a suspect climbing over a fence at the site just before the fire started, and then climbing back over afterward and running away.

The case was similar to other fires at apartment buildings under construction in Oakland and Emeryville in 2016 and 2017. The ATF last July offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in those fires.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the ATF at 888-ATF-FIRE, by visiting Reportit.com or using the mobile "reportit" app, according to the agency.

• RELATED COVERAGE: Arsonist Caused Massive Contra Costa County Fire | Concord Apartment Building Fire: 'We Will Rebuild,' Mayor Says

—Bay City News Service