LONG BEACH, Calif. — A Long Beach lifeguard tower, painted in the rainbow colors of the LGBT Pride Flag, was destroyed by fire on March 23, in what Mayor Robert Garcia believes was an “act of hate.”
Firefighters responded to the tower fire early in the morning, finding the tower “fully engulfed.” The Pride Lifeguard Tower was repainted in six colors of the rainbow last year during Pride Month by LGBTQ members of LBFD’s Marine Safety Division.
“The tower served as a symbol of our strong support for the diversity within our ranks and the LGBTQ community who call Long Beach home,” LBFD Marine Safety Chief Gonzalo Medina said in a statement.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The tower, according to Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, does not have electricity or gas line connections, ruling out some potential causes of fire.
However, Garcia said on Twitter that he had “little doubt that this was an act of hate.”
“To whoever committed this act, we will rebuild it better and brighter,” he added.
Last year, Los Angeles County’s Department of Beaches and Harbors noted that L.A/ County-operated beaches had seen a spate of illegal fires on its beaches, resulting in a fire-damaged tower of its own at Dockweiler Beach. LBFD public information officer Capt. Jack Crabtree said that he had no historical data regarding lifeguard towers burning in recent memory.
In a news conference Tuesday, Garcia said that it is possible that the fire may have been accidental, caused by people gathering at the beach at night, or by an unhoused person seeking refuge.
“But regardless of all that, the fact that over decades we’ve had one burned down, and it was the one recently painted in Pride colors makes it abundantly clear that this was done by folks that don’t believe in the rights, and really the love, that our gay and lesbian and trans and plus communities are all about here in our city,” Garcia said.