Man threatens to burn down Long Beach residential hi-rise

LONG BEACH, Calif. (FOX 11/ CNS) - Long Beach police took a man into custody early Tuesday who threatened to light a fire and burn down a downtown residential hi-rise while barricaded on the top floor for about four hours, authorities said.

The 52-year-old man was taken into custody about 2 a.m. when members of the Long Beach police SWAT team entered the apartment. No weapons were found inside.

The man had suffered minor burns, said Long Beach Police Department Lt. David Faris. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment. No other injuries were reported.

The incident started at 9:51 p.m. Monday when Long Beach firefighters responded to a manual fire alarm on the sixth floor of the apartment building in the 300 block of West Ocean Boulevard and encountered a hostile individual
on arrival, fire officials said.

Portions of the building were evacuated, fire officials said.

There was moderate fire damage to the sixth floor apartment, Faris said.