‘Feel targeted’: Fresno Armenian cemetery director amidst arson fires
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – One weekend after Fresno’s Ararat Armenian cemetery was hit by arson, the more than 100-year-old burial place was targeted again Sunday evening.
‘Deliberate’ fires at Fresno cemetery under investigation
On the night of April 21, the Fresno Police Department and Fire Department responded to a fire at the Ararat Armenian cemetery.
“Fresno PD and our private officer had both made contact with an individual on a bicycle on the grounds. That person had been cited for trespassing and PD was escorting them off the property. Somehow, the individual that set the fire slipped in between those two officers and started the fire,” Ararat Armenian Cemetery Executive Director Sheri Manning-Cartwright said.
One tree was set on fire and, according to Manning-Cartwright, it is unclear if that suspect was caught.
Fresno Fire believes fires at Armenian cemetery arson, not hate crime
“At that point, multiple police cars came onto the scene, and that a helicopter from PD tried to locate the person. At this point I haven’t heard that he has been found,” Manning-Cartwright said.
This fire is part of a string of attacks the cemetery has dealt with in 2024.
“So that brings our total to 21 trees lost since mid-January of this year. That is just this portion, the historic portion of the Armenian Cemetery. My understanding is that the only other cemetery to have any fires is Mountain View, which is contiguous with us and last that I heard it was only four or five trees,” Manning-Cartwright said.
For nearly 100 years, Fresno’s Armenian cemetery was the only Armenian burial site outside of Armenia and the Middle East.
“We felt like it took a lot of time to get any attention on the matter. It wasn’t until our sixth incident I believe that we got a real response from the city, from PD,” Manning-Cartwright said.
The cemetery’s Executive Director is now left with more questions than answers.
“Why is the Armenian cemetery being singled out? PD keeps making the point that other cemeteries have had fires, but it’s important to know that we with about a fifth of the property of Mountain View have had, had lost five times as many trees as they have. And it’s hard not to feel targeted,” Manning-Cartwright said.
