FLAMES DESTROY 1923 CITRUS PACKINGHOUSE
Fire’s case undetermined, but homeless reported to have camped there
A 98-year-old citrus packinghouse near downtown Riverside went up in flames Thursday morning.
The Riverside Navel Growers/McDermont/Sunkist Packing House, at 3141 Ninth St. near University Avenue and Vine Street, was among a group of buildings just east of the 91 Freeway that remained from the early days of the city’s citrus industry.
The heat from the blaze cracked windows next door at the Iron Works building, which was constructed in 1916.
The cause of the fire was “undetermined,” Riverside Fire Chief Michael Moore said.
The Navel Growers building was vacant, said Councilman Andy Melendrez, whose Ward 2 includes the packinghouse area.
“I’m heartbroken to see the building go,” said Melendrez, whose family has lived in Riverside since 1910.
Growers from as far as Arlington and Victoria avenues in Arling
ton Heights to the south, and from Highgrove and Grand Terrace to the north, would bring wagonloads of oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit and kumquats to the packinghouses until at least World War II, Riverside Metropolitan Museum archivist Kevin Hallaran has said.
Preservationists and city officials have for years hoped to develop the area with a broad use of mixes, such as multilevel housing and new businesses. But no one has brought forth a proposal, Melendrez said.
Melendrez recalled that the now-destroyed building had “gorgeous” exposed rafters in the shape of an arch, hardwood floors and fruitprocessing machinery still in place. A list of workers even remained pinned to a board.
He said the city had struggled to keep homeless people out of the building.
Warren Diamond, who is a member of the limited-liability corporation that owns the building, said in a telephone interview from New Jersey that he was unaware that homeless people had been breaking in. He said homeless people are not getting the help they need from cities and the state, particularly with jobs and mental-health treatment.
Diamond declined to describe in detail what the plans had been for the building, but he said they would have been good for the city and appropriate for its location next to the downtown train station.
The fire, he said, “is a … shame.”
Ian Davidson, who owns the Iron Works building, said he had told firefighters training in the area only the day before that it was a question of “when, not if,” the Navel Growers building would burn because of homeless people breaking in and setting fires to keep warm and to cook.
“They told me to call my councilman,” Davidson said. “The next day, it burned.”
The fire broke out just before 7 a.m. Firefighters, with a direct line of sight on the building as they left the University Avenue fire headquarters, had the blaze under control by 9:30 a.m.
Moore said heavy equipment will be brought in to remove heavy wooden beams from the rubble before firefighters can do a more thorough search of the property, which included a basement, assisted by a K-9 that can smell fire accelerants such as gasoline.
Firefighters don’t believe anyone was hurt or worse but planned to bring in a cadaver dog to check once they are sure no debris will fall.