Repeat fire destroys vacant Long Beach building, displacing four neighbors

The abandoned building on Linden Avenue had caught fire before. This time, it was destroyed—and four people living next door had to find somewhere else to stay, even though firefighters kept the flames from reaching their homes. The overnight blaze in central Long Beach left a familiar neighborhood hazard reduced to a demolition job, with no announced date for removing it. ¹

No injuries were reported after the two-alarm fire around midnight as Wednesday, October 28, gave way to Thursday, October 29, 2026. But damaged power lines extended the disruption beyond the burned property. An adjacent duplex lost electricity, displacing its four residents, while Southern California Edison reported 23 affected customer accounts in all. ^{1 3}

Long Beach Fire Department spokesperson Jack Crabtree told the Long Beach Post that city crews had been called to coordinate demolition of the destroyed building. That establishes a plan to take it down—not that a formal demolition order has been issued, work has begun or a timetable has been set. ¹

The building stood on Linden Avenue north of 23rd Street, in the 2300 block. The two local accounts place the initial report on slightly different sides of midnight: MyNewsLA reported just before midnight Wednesday, while the Long Beach Post described an early-Thursday fire reported around midnight. Neither account establishes a precise ignition time. ^{2 3}

Video described by the Post showed smoke and flames billowing from upper windows. Crews requested a second alarm, bringing additional engines, and stopped the flames from spreading to nearby buildings, Crabtree said. ²

The firefighting effort was defensive. MyNewsLA reported that crews worked from outside because they feared the structure could collapse, protecting surrounding houses as the abandoned building burned itself out. The reports do not provide an exact extinguishment time. This is the aftermath of a destructive fire, not an account of flames still advancing through the neighborhood. ³

Keeping the neighboring buildings from burning was a consequential success. It did not, however, keep their occupants untouched. The adjacent duplex became unusable for its four residents because it lost electricity—not because fire had spread into it, according to Crabtree’s account. ¹

Edison estimated that service would return by 10 a.m. Thursday, MyNewsLA reported. That time had passed by this report, but restoration had not been confirmed. An estimated repair time is not evidence of a completed repair, and the available reporting does not establish whether the four residents have returned or what assistance they received. ^{1 3}

The outage and displacement figures measure different things. Edison’s 23 customers are utility accounts, not a headcount. Four is the confirmed number of people who needed other accommodations; there is no basis to turn the wider outage into 23 displaced residents. ^{1 3}

Crabtree said the abandoned building had caught fire at least once before in the preceding two years, making this at least its second fire during that period. A neighbor identified only as Carlos described a third occurrence to MyNewsLA. His account conveys the frustration of living nearby, but that higher total has not been independently established. ^{1 3}

Carlos said he was in the shower when another neighbor asked him to call 911. He wanted the homeowner to act for the safety of his parents and the surrounding neighbors. “We don’t want it to happen again,” he told MyNewsLA. ³

The repeated-fire history makes that concern concrete without establishing who caused this blaze. No ignition source or finding of arson has been reported, and the cause was not immediately known. A history of fires is a reason to scrutinize a property’s safety, not proof of responsibility for starting one. ¹

For the neighbors, the remaining questions are practical: whether power is actually back, whether the four residents can return, and when the ruined structure will be removed. Firefighters kept the flames within the abandoned building. Restoring ordinary life around it requires more than putting the fire out. ^{1 3}