Severely Burned In Long Beach Explosion, Man Is 'Fighting To Heal' In ICU

LONG BEACH, CA — A man who was severely injured in an explosion at his Long Beach home Monday remains under intensive care for treatment of burns over much of his body, according to his wife.

The explosion — the cause of which remains under investigation — occurred around 11 a.m. in a back house on a property on the 2800 block of Gale Avenue in the Upper Westside area. The accessory unit was destroyed in the blast, while the main house sustained minor structural damage, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.

One man was rescued from the destroyed back house and transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. The man was identified by his wife as Manny Fabrigas in a GoFundMe page launched to help the family rebuild after the explosion.

"My husband Manny faces a long and painful road to recovery, and the medical expenses are overwhelming. Meanwhile, our family is left without the basic necessities—food, clothing, and housing," Sheila Fabrigas wrote.

The effort had raised over $8,000 of its $50,000 goal by Tuesday afternoon.

Manny Fabrigas had completed a cycling marathon with his daughter the day before and was home from work recovering when he was injured in the explosion, his wife wrote.

"We are incredibly thankful that some of our neighbors were home and heard the explosion. Without hesitation, they rushed in and bravely pulled my husband from the flames before the fire grew uncontrollable. The Long Beach Fire Department arrived quickly and managed to extinguish the blaze before it spread further, but the damage had already been done," she wrote.

Fabrigas suffered from severe second- and third-degree burns across much of his body and is "currently in the ICU, fighting to heal," his wife wrote.

"Our family, however, has lost everything. Our home, a symbol of years of hard work and sacrifice, is gone. As Filipino immigrants, we worked tirelessly to build a life and create a home where our family could thrive. After only a year of enjoying our dream home, it was cruelly taken away in an instant," she wrote.

The investigation into the explosion is ongoing.

The main home on the property has been “yellow tagged” by the city, which allows its residents to go in and retrieve their belongings. The Red Cross has been called in to assist those displaced, fire officials said.

The back house was "red tagged," while the exterior outdoor walls were also damaged. A neighboring home also suffered minor damage, firefighters said. The Fire Department described the accessory dwelling unit as "permitted."