Roads closed, Fresno Tower District, related to fentanyl investigation

Some roads were closed in Fresno’s Tower District on Monday afternoon as police searched for evidence at a residence related to a fentanyl investigation.

Earlier in the day, a coalition of law enforcement and health officials held a news conference at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office to warn about the threats of fentanyl after three people in their 20s and 30s overdosed on the drug Jan. 7, resulting in one death.

“Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, can be fatal even in small doses and is said to be 50 times more potent than heroin,” wrote Dr. Sara Goldgraben, Fresno County Public Health Officer, in a news release Monday.

Fresno police and firefighters were investigating a home on College Avenue, beside a canal near La Sierra Drive. Parts of Van Ness Boulevard and College Avenue near the residence were closed as a precautionary measure, including one home that was marked as “hazmat,” said Sgt. Tim Tietjen with the Fresno Police Department’s major narcotics unit.

Some individuals could be seen at the residence on College Avenue wearing white, full-body hazmat suits. They were suited up for their safety, just in case anything hazardous was found, Tietjen said. Few details about the investigation were released Monday afternoon, including whether any drugs were discovered at the location.

As of 4:15 p.m, Fresno firefighters had cleared the scene.

Tietjen called the investigation “a community safety issue” but added that there was no immediate danger to the general public living nearby.

Michael Reynolds, who lives across the street, called the investigation “unnerving.”

He said in the year-plus he’s lived in the Tower District, he had a window broken and his car burglarized, but that he hadn’t noticed any disruptions at the residence being investigated Monday, except for people sometimes playing the drums.

Reynolds loves the culture of the Tower District but said “the whole area is not super great. … Stuff like this makes me kind of hesitant to continue living here.”