Long Beach fire kills two, critically injures one other

LONG BEACH, Calif. - An investigation was continuing Friday into a fire that heavily damaged an abandoned commercial structure in Long Beach, leaving a man and a woman dead and a woman critically injured.

The fire was reported around 9 p.m. Thursday at a commercial building, possibly a former automotive service garage, in the 1700 block of Long Beach Boulevard, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.

Fire crews quickly doused the flames, then searched the structure, finding a man dead inside, according to the LBFD. Two women were taken to hospitals in what the fire department described as grave condition.

One of those women died and the other was hospitalized in critical condition, Brian Fisk of the LBFD said.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office identified the fatally injured pair as Israel Benjamin Gonzalez, 28, and Christina Rivera, 49. Their cities of residence were not known.

No firefighters were injured, and the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

It was unclear if the victims were homeless and possibly using the abandoned structure for shelter. An investigation involving the Long Beach fire and police departments was underway, Fisk said