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Rainbow lifeguard station painted for Pride month burned down in Long Beach

by Morgan Gstalter - 03/24/21 1:08 PM ET

A rainbow lifeguard tower painted to honor Pride month was destroyed in a fire early Tuesday, California authorities said.

The Long Beach Fire Department said in a statement that the tower, located alongside the shoreline, was “engulfed” in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after midnight.

The stand was decorated by LGBTQ members of the Marine Safety Division in June and “served as a symbol of our strong support for the diversity within our ranks & community,” the department said in statement.

The source of the blaze is under investigation, but Robert Garcia, who is the city’s first openly gay mayor, wrote that he personally has “little doubt this was an act of hate.”

“To whoever committed this act, we will rebuild it better and brighter,” the Democrat wrote.

Last night, our PRIDE lifeguard station that was painted by LGBTQ+ lifeguards, burned down. The fire is under investigation but I personally have little doubt this was an act of hate. To whoever committed this act, we will rebuild it better and brighter. pic.twitter.com/VxNQZgCBpF

— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarcia) March 23, 2021

Garcia said that the tower didn’t have a power source that could spontaneously ignite. It was reportedly made of steel and fiberglass, known for its weather-resistant nature.

Dave Stollery, CEO of Industrial Design Research which specializes in fiberglass lifeguard towers, said he found it hard to believe that the fire was accidental.

“I think in the 30 years I’ve been involved in this business, we’ve never heard of a lifeguard tower burning,” Stollery told The Long Beach Post. “Fiberglass is not a particularly flammable material.”

People are often seen on the beach at night but Garcia said that it was suspicious that, of all the lifeguard towers in the city, the one representing the LGBTQ community is the first one to burn in at least 60 years.

“To have the one lifeguard station that’s burned to the ground be the one that was recently painted in pride colors — that leaves little doubt that this was a targeted incident,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “As a gay man who is also the mayor of a city, I understand that hate incidents still happen. They happen to people I know, and they’ve happened to me.”

The mayor added on Twitter: “And we are going to rebuild it even gayer.”