Suspected Arson Blaze Damages A&T Ceramic Tile Shop at McKinley and Blackstone

A suspected arson fire that broke out at A&T Ceramic, the tile showroom at McKinley and Blackstone in central Fresno, prompted a 50-firefighter response early Friday and was contained to the store’s interior contents, authorities said. Investigators feared the blaze could spread to as many as 2,900 pallets of tile inside the building, though no injuries were reported and the structure sustained minimal damage.

Fresno Fire Department spokesperson Joshua Sellers said the fire began around 4:15 a.m. Friday and crews worked to extinguish flames that officials described as limited to the showroom’s inventory. Fresno Bee reporting used the phrase "contained to contents still inside the building" when characterizing the fire’s scope, while ABC30 called it a small fire that nonetheless drew a large response because of the inventory risk.

Owners Art and Tony Terzian operate A&T Ceramic at the intersection. Art Terzian had warned two days before the blaze that he feared his business might be targeted, telling Action News, "I'm thinking I'm going to be next." After the fire, Terzian told ABC30 he could not get his inventory out and described his showroom as containing "A lot of stuff. Samples. Mexican handmade tile." He also said city officials view those materials as worthless, saying, "They don't understand that. They just say, 'junk.'"

The tile-shop blaze is the third fire at McKinley and Blackstone in less than three weeks. About two weeks earlier, an abandoned Carl's Jr. at the same intersection was destroyed in a blaze, and a vacant building caught fire the Sunday before the A&T Ceramic incident; authorities labeled that vacant-building fire "highly suspicious."

The site is at the center of a separate dispute with City Hall. Fresno is pursuing control of parcels near Blackstone and McKinley through eminent domain to lower the intersection by up to 25 feet for a railroad project, and KFSN reported the city has taken control of Art Terzian's property and "at least 16 others." Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz disputed the owners' claims that the city left businesses unprotected, saying, "This is completely false. We've been working since March of last year. We've set aside $1.5 million to relocate the property." Janz added, "I want to be absolutely clear that if there is any damage to his property, it's going to be on him, and not the city." City officials also say they already have around-the-clock protection in place for properties in the project area.

Investigators are treating the Friday morning blaze as suspected arson and believe it was intentionally set; no arrests or named suspects have been reported and no investigative agency has been publicly identified. Photographs from the scene were dated Friday, Feb. 13, 2026; follow-up remains needed to confirm exact inventory losses and to identify who is handling the arson probe.