LBFD Quickly Quashes Fire @ Jack-In-The-Box (Palo Verde/North of Spring), Says Blaze Not A Big One, Began In Electrical Panel

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(Sept. 16, 2015, 11:55 a.m.) -- Long Beach firefighters took no chances and showed up in force to douse a blaze last night (Sept. 15) at the Jack-In-The-Box restaurant on Palo Verde Ave., north of Spring St.

LBFD Public Information Officer/Firefighter Brian Fisk says the fire began in an electrical panel, wasn't a major blaze and was knocked down fairly quickly.

But that's not what it looked like at about 11 p.m. (Sept. 15) (see photo below)

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Photo by Melissa Keyes

Melissa Keys (who captured the photo above, thank you) commented on Facebook that at one point it "caught the transformer on fire and it was knocked down pretty quick."

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Fire Engine 18 at Station 18 (just up the street on Palo Verde at Wardlow Rd.) might have arrived more quickly than Engine 5 (based in El Dorado Park east of Studebaker Rd.)...except there is no Engine 18 and Station 18 anymore, just a paramedic response unit. Station 18 was city management's first choice to leave without a fire engine (over the objections of then-Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske.) Eventually Council majority approved budget cuts left three ELB fire stations without fire engines (8, 17 and 18), and a fourth (a second engine at Station 1) that provided greater safety for downtown density was also eliminated.

At last night's (Sept. 15) Council meeting, Councilmembers voted 9-0 to adopt a FY16 budget recommended by Mayor Robert Garcia that doesn't restore any of these resources for taxpayers.

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