Neighbors in Long Beach off Junipero Avenue and Anaheim Street are worried about a home with trash packed inside and out that was partially destroyed by a fire on Wednesday.
“I’ve reported this home 10 times in the last few weeks,” said a neighbor who feared to be identified. “I’m frustrated by the lack of oversight and I’m getting nervous for my very young family.”
The home at 1205 Junipero Ave. has been a concern for neighbors since trash started piling up this year, and multiple people they were unfamiliar with started living inside and outside the home.
“I even spoke to a man who lives in his car, out in the street in front, who told me he and the people who live there on the property still have no intention on leaving,” said the neighbor.
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“My grandfather and father are the property owners of the house,” said Sabrina Pangelinan, who called NBC4 with her grandfather Johnny to say they lived at the home with four other relatives and friends. “That was not our trash. It’s my uncle’s trash and he kept bringing more and more of it to our property.”
“It took him years to accumulate all the trash. We kicked off our property last month,” said Sabrina Pangelinan.
She said the family had been trying to repair the home since an initial fire in 2023, but last Wednesday, a hot plate in her bedroom caught the home on fire and it destroyed most of the roof.
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“We are currently homeless,” said Sabrina. “It’s unsafe for us to be there. We have nowhere to go.”
Neighbors had believed the home was vacant after the initial fire in 2023 and the unfamiliar people coming in and out were squatters.
“This property is the subject of an ongoing code enforcement investigation, and the City is taking all appropriate action to hold the property owner accountable,” wrote Long Beach Community Development officials. “The City had received complaints about this property from the neighbors and from the Council district. Previous issues on the property were addressed but over the last month the property owner failed to maintain and control this property and ultimately a fire resulted… We are working to force the property owner to do more to more fully secure all of the property. The owner will be ordered to clean the property and if they do not do that cleaning it will be completed by the City.”
