Brenae Gross had just walked into the North Long Beach apartment complex where she lived with her 6-year-old boys when she noticed black smoke pouring from the window of her first-floor unit.

She looked for a way inside her apartment in an effort to mitigate the smoke before realizing it was futile. Within minutes, the black cloud consumed her home and the fire spread to nearby units.

“I lost everything,” said Gross, a long-time Long Beach resident. “I’m still in shock that it happened.”

Gross and her twin sons were among the 30 people displaced Thursday, May 12 after a fire erupted at an apartment complex in North Long Beach, damaging at least a dozen residential units.

Firefighters look on as a fire that broke out at an apartment complex roars in the background Thursday, May 12. Photo by Fernando Haro.

Reports on the day of the incident described the blaze spreading from a car to the complex, but fire officials refuted those details, saying the fire started inside a first-floor unit. Gross suspects it started in her home as a result of a malfunctioning laptop, but the LBFD was not able to confirm that. They’re still investigating the cause.

Dozens of firefighters were required to put out the roaring third-alarm blaze in the 2800 block of Artesia Boulevard that afternoon.

Residents in the surrounding community who filmed the chaotic situation said it all started with a bit of smoke but before they knew it, the 65-unit apartment complex flared up, resulting in multiple partial roof collapses as crews worked relentlessly to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported, according to the LBFD. 

A woman looks on as Long Beach firefighters battle an apartment fire at her complex in the 2800 block of Artesia Boulevard in Long Beach Thursday, May 12, 2022. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

Residents affected by the damage, such as Gross and her children, have had to figure out how to deal with the unexpected losses. The Red Cross assisted displaced residents following the fire, but a little over a week later, Gross said she doesn’t have any hotel vouchers and has been staying with family.

A few days after the fire, Gross, who worked from home as a licensed esthetician, visited her old apartment to see if she could salvage any items. But it was closed off and looked uninhabitable, Gross said.

“It doesn’t help me to cry or be mad about it,” Gross said. “We’re lucky nobody got hurt.”

Gross set up a GoFundMe to help raise money to replace what was lost in the fire, including products used for her job. The GoFundMe has raised $808 of the $5,000 goal as of Sunday.

30 displaced as large blaze chars apartment complex in North Long Beach; roof collapses reported