LONG BEACH, Calif. (KTLA) — The Long Beach Fire Department responded to a fire at the city’s colorful Pride Lifeguard Tower early Tuesday and found it fully engulfed in flames, officials reported.
The Pride Lifeguard Tower, which sat on the sand between 12th and 13th places, went up in flames sometime before midnight Monday, officials said.
The rainbow tower was painted by LGBTQ+ members of the fire department’s marine safety division in June 2020. In a statement posted on Twitter, the department said the rainbow tower symbolized “our strong support for the diversity within our ranks & community.”
Pictures shared to the Long Beach Fire Department’s Twitter page showed the once red, orange, yellow, green and blue tower reduced to a burned frame and a pile of ashes strewn across the sand.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said the city’s Pride Lifeguard Tower will be rebuilt “better and brighter.”
“I personally have little doubt this was an act of hate,” he said in a tweet.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.