Fire investigators have one person in custody on suspicion of starting a significant fire at an abandoned two-story Victorian house on Long Beach Boulevard near Downtown, the Long Beach Fire Department says.
Firefighters were dispatched to the home at 928 Long Beach Blvd. around 10 a.m. and it took six engines about 20 minutes to knock down the blaze, according LBFD spokesman Brian Fisk.
No injuries were reported, he said.
Northbound Long Beach Boulevard remains shut down from 8th to 10th streets and is expected to reopen around 12:45 p.m., according to Fisk.
Multiple calls came in regarding the fire, the first coming from Chase Bank employees, who work next door to the home, Fisk said.
This is the third time the structure has caught fire. It also drew a heavy fire response after a blaze in March that caused extensive damage, and caught fire in 2018.
Efraín Candelas, 50, a resident who lives nearby, said he’s upset the home caught fire again. “The good thing is that the house was empty,” he said in Spanish.
Officials said at the time of the March fire that the house had been used as a sober living home, but had since been abandoned.
Crystal Niebla contributed to this report.
This is story has been updated with additional information from the Long Beach Fire Department.