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Tragedy Narrowly Averted In A Downtown Apartment Fire
By Jackawa Jackson | October 8, 2009
At 7:24 am on October 8, 2009, Long Beach Fire Department received a call to a reported structure fire located at 555 Cherry Ave. Residents were awakened to dense smoke pouring from the first floor apartment at this address. The female resident of the involved apartment was trapped inside due to “excessive hording conditions”, and the main body of fire that was located between the occupant and the front door. The resident was forced to climb to safety through a bathroom window and was assisted to the ground by passers-by. Long Beach Engine 2 arrived on scene within 3 minutes from the time of dispatch and found heavy smoke showing from the involved unit. Large amounts of combustibles were stacked, in some areas, to nearly half the height of the ceiling making it difficult to even open the front door. Fire units mounted an aggressive attack on the seat of the fire and managed to hold it to the room of origin. A thorough search was made of the apartment to ensure there were no other occupants inside. Extensive overhaul (search for hidden fire) was required due to the volume of combustibles on hand. There were no working smoke detectors in place at the time of the blaze. Long Beach Fire Department arson investigators were called in and determined the cause to be accidental. There were no reported injuries to civilian or firefighters. A total of 22 firefighters responded to this incident.
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