The Long Beach Rescue Mission is hoping the community can help with donations after a fire wiped out much of the shelter’s first floor in December.
Long Beach Fire officials say this incident was arson and police think they’ve arrested the person who started it all.
The whole act was caught on camera. Surveillance video from Dec. 22 shows a woman lighting a Christmas Tree on fire inside Long Beach Rescue Mission’s Lydia House.
Minutes later, the fire took off and severely damaged the first floor.
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“It was devastating to see a place that I love so much just rendered useless,” said Jeffrey Levine, Executive Director of Long Beach Rescue Mission. “Originally we thought it was the lights on the Christmas tree, that’s where the fire was located.”
“Few days later I’m talking with our staff and they said I don’t think the Christmas tree lights were on and so we ran the video footage and we saw that one of our residents actually lit the Christmas tree on fire and what was so disturbing was that that person was still here and she had slept with the other residents and ate with them, prayed with our staff,” Levine said.
Levine said Long Beach Police later arrested that woman at this shelter that was housing her.
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Initially, 47 people were evacuated and are now living on the second floor while workers gut the first floor.
“I think for our residents, while the building can be repaired relatively quickly, the trauma that they’ve experienced is going to take time,” Levine said.
The shelter is now in need of things like robes, slippers, any clothing and bedding.
But while the work continues, Levine, a former meth addict, is not giving up on the woman who started this fire.
“If you would have told me 20 years ago when I was jamming a needle in my arm that I’d be leading this incredible organization that I’ve served at for 18 years I wouldn’t have believed you,” Levine said. “I wouldn’t have believed it was possible. And having experienced that it gives me an incredible amount of hope for everybody that we serve that if he can do that in my life there’s nobody beyond his reach.”
In addition to all this loss Levine said the hardest part is having to turn away homeless families seeking shelter right now. It’s especially tough in a time when the need is great.
Levine said the woman who police arrested is now facing a felony arson charge.
