A historic, century-old Riverside packing house was destroyed Friday, July 12, by what an investigator said was a “suspicious” fire.
The Strachan Fruit Co. building at 3496 Commerce St. caught fire around 11:15 p.m. Friday. It housed Gilmore’s Truck Parts & Accessories.
The building, erected in 1908, was a total loss, said Capt. Ray Mendoza, the Riverside Fire Department’s lead arson investigator.
“It does appear to be suspicious,” Mendoza said Tuesday.
The fire drew 24 firefighters, four engines and two ladder trucks. Mendoza said investigators are trying to determine where the fire started and how, and after that will focus on the why and who.
This was at least the second packing house in a city to burn in the past three years. In April 2021, the 98-year-old Riverside Navel Growers/McDermont/Sunkist Packing House, at 3141 9th St. near University Avenue and Vine Street, went up in flames. The cause of the fire was considered suspicious because the building was not in use at the time.
Riverside was founded in 1870 and became the birthplace of the state’s citrus industry.
Growers from Arlington and Victoria avenues in Arlington Heights to the south, and from Highgrove and Grand Terrace to the north, brought wagon loads of oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit and kumquats to the packing houses until at least World War II, Kevin Hallaran, a former archivist at what’s now called the Museum of Riverside, said in a 2016 interview.
Riverside city leaders and business owners have been for years discussing redeveloping the packing house district.
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