Fire burns Modesto warehouse, where homeless people were staying

Firefighters on Thursday put out a fire inside a large warehouse in north Modesto, where authorities suspect homeless people were staying.

The fire was reported shortly before 11 a.m. at the warehouse near McHenry and Pelandale avenues. Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Darin Jesberg said firefighters arrived and found heavy flames and smoke coming from inside the warehouse.

The firefighters got inside the warehouse and found the fire burning in the northwest corner of the building. Jesberg said the firefighters quickly extinguished the flames.

He said there was a lot of random debris inside the warehouse. The firefighters searched but found nobody inside. No injuries were reported.

A woman was seen running from the warehouse earlier in the day. Authorities searched the surrounding area, but she was not found.

Jesberg said it appeared homeless people were staying inside the warehouse, because a roll-top door was pushed in to easily enter and exit the warehouse. Other than the debris, there were not a lot of contents inside the warehouse, he said.

The fire did not cause a significant amount of structural damage to the warehouse, Jesberg said. Investigators had not determined where exactly the fire started or the cause of the fire.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Fire burns Modesto warehouse, where homeless people were staying."