Fire officials investigating fire that broke out at abandoned building in Central Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An investigation is underway after an early morning fire in Central Fresno.

The fire broke out at three Tuesday morning at Blackstone and Harvey in the building that used to be called the Express. Thick smoke was visible from the freeway which is why crews worked quickly to contain the fire.

Officials say the fire started on the side of the building and are trying to figure out if this fire was intentionally set.

When crews arrived on scene firefighters told us there were flames shooting through the roof so they took a defensive approach-- meaning they attacked the flames from the exterior.

"We just took a really safe approach, you know these vacant buildings we don't want to risk personnel for something that is at a possible loss-- meaning if the building is beyond repair which wasn't necessarily the case here. We took that safe approach because of the significant amount of the body of fire we had," said Randy Reitz with Fresno Fire.

The Fulton Blackstone off-ramp was shut down as well as several streets nearby but all have reopened.

Once firefighters were able to knock down those flames they were able to get inside and search for any victims and say right now that no one was inside.

The building had been sold and the realtor told us he was set to close escrow this Friday and now is not sure what he will do.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.