Abigail Rivera was already in bed Sunday after closing her pop-up restaurant when a phone call woke her with jarring news: The trailer she serves out of was on fire.
The flames were extinguished by the time she and her husband arrived, police and firefighters already on the scene. The fire suppression system hadn’t worked, she said, and she was met with the aftermath — windows shattered, the interior charred.
“That’s all of my work, all of my tears, all of my sweat, just down the drain,” said Rivera, niece of the trailblazing singer Jenni Rivera. Yet Abigail Rivera added that the loss was especially heartbreaking because her business had been “built organically by me and my husband,” without using the Rivera name, she said.
Now, they’re turning to others for help in their worst time of need, creating a GoFundMe that has elicited an outpouring of support.
Rivera made an emotional Instagram post detailing the event, which she said hit especially hard because of a series of setbacks that have befallen her family.
“Have no words and I feel like I can’t ever reach a place of peace. I still have young eyes watching me so I have to get up and show them it doesn’t matter how many times you fall it matters how many times you get back up,” she wrote.
It’s been a journey. In 2020, she and her husband started experimenting with flavors, attempting to recreate tacos they’d eaten in Mexico, even though they were unable to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon, she started hosting pop-ups and selling out of her home.
In 2024, she and her husband took the plunge of buying a trailer that they could tow and sell food from, naming their business Casa Camaron y Gavino’s Sushi and parking it at Seventh Street and Magnolia Avenue.
Just months after buying the trailer, her husband, who has a genetic disease, lost so much kidney function that he was facing dialysis, Rivera said. At the eleventh hour, his brother was approved to donate a kidney, and he received the transplant in February 2025, Rivera said.
Yet Rivera still had to operate Casa Camaron solo while he recovered. She burned her face the following October in a kitchen accident, but she treated it as a learning opportunity, she said, and made a point of writing notes to herself to ensure safety.
On Father’s Day 2026, someone crashed into the parked truck she used to tow the food trailer, and she was forced to rent U-Haul trucks, which her insurance wouldn’t pay for, she said.
After all of that, the fire was another devastating setback. Immediately afterward, she didn’t want to start a fundraiser, she said. But after creating it, she saw the power and loyalty of her community, who raised more than $5,000 in two days.
People messaged her to donate and offer support — particularly meaningful because she always tried to greet her customers with kindness and feed unhoused people near her business, she said.
“It’s really nice to see that a community can grow like that if we all respect and love each other.”
Though she said she’s operating in survival mode right now, she also hopes to continue her Casa Camaron because of the relationships she’s made in Long Beach, a close-knit community where “once you become family, you’re family,” she said.
Additional information is available via Rivera’s GoFundMe here. She shared on Instagram that those interested can still order food from Casa Camaron this weekend by texting or direct messaging their order. Further instructions are available here.