Abandoned Fresno building to be demolished for high-speed rail

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Crews are scheduled to gut out an old abandoned building in Downtown Fresno on Tuesday before it is demolished next week. It's all part of the prep work for high-speed rail.

On Tuesday, crews from the High-Speed Rail Authority will remove unsafe areas from what used to be the old Del Monte packing house. Firefighters have gone to several large fires in the area over the past several months including a large one which happened there in May.

"The fire that occurred a couple of months ago where this portion of the building on the north end was heavily damaged involved three plus alarms and we had fire crews out here for more than 30 hours doing fire suppression," said Battalion Chief Lawrence French with the Fresno Fire Department.

Starting on Tuesday, drivers in the area can expect detours. Closures will be in effect on G Street between Tulare and Kern.

The Rail Authority says the building will be demolished on September 8.