Share this:

Two people were seriously injured injured early Thursday morning when a fire broke out at an apartment building in downtown Long Beach, where an ongoing power outage has left more than 2,500 people without electricity, officials said.

Two people were seriously injured in a fire at an apartment building in Long Beach on Thursday, July 16, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)

An increased number of Long Beach police were patrolling the area overnight due to the outage, which was caused by multiple underground electrical vault fires about 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday, a bystander alerted an officer to a blaze at a 20-unit apartment building in the 400 block of Chestnut Avenue, according to Jake Heflin, spokesman for the Long Beach Fire Department.

The officer approached the structure from a rear alley, discovered that two people were trapped inside, then pried open a security bar and helped one of the residents to safety, Heflin said. Two other officers arrived at the scene and rescued the second person.

Both patients were transported to a trauma center with life-threatening injuries, the Fire Department said. The officers were not seriously hurt.

Support from the Red Cross was requested at the scene, where about 27 people were evacuated from the building.

Meanwhile, Southern California Edison officials continued to investigate the cause of Wednesday s underground electrical vault fires. The incidents led to a power outage that at one point left 4,800 customers in the dark.

By Thursday morning, 2,500 customers remained without power, according to the utility.