Three students were displaced Wednesday evening after a fire consumed their apartment and destroyed most of their possessions at the Beverly Plaza Apartments, a popular student complex about one mile away from Cal State Long Beach along Atherton Street and Ximeno Avenue.
The three tenants, students Megan O’Keffe, a sophomore public relations student; Rebecca Kruse, a sophomore business major; and Sandra Barrera, a sophomore; were all studying away from their apartment when the fire happened.
O’Keffe and Barrera were studying together at the University Library, while Kruse was studying in a neighboring apartment, when the students were notified of the fire around 11 p.m.
Kruse was the first of the girls to be notified.
According to one of the students’ neighbors, the sound of the fire was like a “popping. It sounded like fireworks.”
Neighbors were evacuated and liquid began seeping into the neighbors’ apartments, who lived beneath the women, according to O’Keffe.
The women are still unsure of what caused the fire, but said the fire department was investigating the apartment’s electrical wiring. Witnesses say the fire began on the balcony and spread to the living room and kitchen.
According to O’Keffe, most of the apartment has such extensive smoke and fire damage that the majority of their possessions will not be salvageable.
Currently, the students have been relocated to another apartment within Beverly Plaza.
