Story at a glance
- A rainbow-colored lifeguard station was engulfed in fire earlier this week in Long Beach, Calif.
- The station, which was reportedly made out of fiberglass, had been painted by LGBTQ+ first responders during Pride month last year.
- While authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, the LGBTQ+ community rallied against hate.
After a rainbow-colored lifeguard station honoring the LGBTQ+ community in Long Beach, Calif., was burned down, officials promised to build it back even “gayer” than before.
“It was a gut punch to the community but we’re going to punch back. We’ll be stronger than ever,” Mayor Robert Garcia, who is gay, told NBC News. “We’re going to continue to speak out against hate and against folks who dismiss that there’s still hate against LGBTQ+ people.”
On Tuesday morning, the local fire department said the Pride Lifeguard Tower, painted by LGBTQ+ members of the Marine Safety Division during Pride month last year, was “fully engulfed” in fire.
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“The tower served as a symbol of our strong support for the diversity within our ranks & community,” said the Long Beach Fire Department, which is investigating the source of the fire.
The tower will be replaced and repainted by Lifeguards. The source of the fire is under investigation.
— Long Beach Fire (CA) (@LBFD) March 23, 2021
The station was made of steel and fiberglass, not wood, and had no internal power supply, according to an expert who spoke with a local news outlet.
“I think in the 30 years I’ve been involved in this business, we’ve never heard of a lifeguard tower burning,” Dave Stollery, CEO of Industrial Design Research, told the Long Beach Post. “Fiberglass is not a particularly flammable material.”
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The LGBTQ+ community has long been a target of hate crimes, which hit the highest level in more than a decade last year. Garcia and other local officials joined the community for a unity rally on Wednesday afternoon, waving rainbow pride flags in the sand in front of the tower.
“To whoever committed this act, just please know that, one, you are not welcome in our community,” Garcia said. “And two, that we will rebuild the lifeguard station, brighter, gayer, and bigger than it was before.”
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