Firefighters quickly doused an apartment fire in North Long Beach Monday morning after a neighbor called for help when she heard a smoke alarm, according to a fire official.

The neighbor told authorities she heard the alarm and smelled smoke in a nearby apartment around 7:44 a.m., Long Beach fire spokesman Capt. Matt Dobberpuhl said.

The fire was burning in a first-floor unit. Photo courtesy Long Beach Fire Department.
The fire was burning in a first-floor unit. Photo courtesy Long Beach Fire Department.

Crews rushed to the scene near Atlantic Avenue and 63rd Street where they found a two-story garden-style apartment building with one unit on fire.

“They reported heavy fire from the involved unit,” Dobberpuhl said.

The fire did significant damage to the apartment. Photo courtesy Long Beach Fire Department.

It’s not clear if anyone was at home when the fire started, but firefighters were able to douse the blaze quickly, Dobberpuhl said. Nobody was hurt by the flames, he said.

Crews were still at the scene at around 9 a.m. trying to determine what caused the fire and exactly how much damage it did, Dobberpuhl said.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.