City Provides Help and Hope for Victims of East Anaheim Plaza Fire

On December 11, 2022, Dr. David Yang and his wife, Dr. Lily Wang, were resting up for a dreamy anniversary trip to San Diego. Instead, that Sunday morning turned into one of their worst nightmares. 

The couple, both dentists, worked together in an office in East Anaheim Plaza, a shopping center at the corner of Anaheim Street and Olive Avenue in Long Beach. They just had their first child, and Lily was on maternity leave. 

"We got a text from our receptionist, who said 'Doc! The office is burned,'" recalled Yang. "My wife and I hopped in the car and rushed down to the office." They arrived around 9 a.m. and were greeted with a horrific sight; the entire East Anaheim Plaza fully engulfed in flames. 

"We were told the buildings had been burning since 3 a.m.," Yang continued. "We stayed there with the rest of the tenants to see what was going on. The firemen didn't finish until 11:30 a.m. The entire complex was burned to the ground -- steel beams and everything." 

Ten businesses were completely destroyed overnight. 

"We didn't know how to respond," Yang said. "You never expect something like that to happen to you. We kind of panicked. My wife and I had invested everything into that office." 

While the East Anaheim Plaza tenants were wondering about their future, the City of Long Beach's Economic Development Department and the 6th District Council Office sprang into action, planning a response to assist the business owners through this disaster.   

On December 22, all the owners and their employees were invited to a meeting co-facilitated by Economic Development and the 6th District Council Office that included key staff from the City of Long Beach’s Community Development, Fire, Police, Health & Human Services, and Financial Management departments. 

Other community partners in attendance included the United Cambodian Community, the State of California Employment Development Department, and the Small Business Development Center. The attendees were introduced to a wide variety of resources and services, and were able to ask questions and seek one-on-one assistance.

Doctors Yang and Wang were considering relocating their practice to another city, since a new location wasn't immediately presenting itself. "Councilwoman Saro's office reached out, telling us they wanted us to stay in Long Beach," Yang said. "They looked around for us, providing us with bank loan assistance to get things up and running."  

Good fortune smiled upon the two dentists early in 2023: Dr. Loan Truong, another tenant at the East Anaheim Plaza, had a temporary space available for them just around the corner near the intersection of Anaheim Street and Atlantic Avenue. Yang worked tirelessly alongside the construction workers to get the new space up and running by March. 

Yang mentioned that Lucius Martin, at that time Acting Business Development Officer, has been very helpful, facilitating permits and other administrative details. 

"Operationally, we're about 85% back to where we were before the fire," said Yang. He went on to explain that their pre-fire database of 2,600 active patients was lost in the fire, but word of mouth -- along with lots of positive Google and Yelp reviews -- is working well. 

"We're hoping they'll all eventually find us," Yang said. "After all, we're just around the corner from where we were. We are definitely looking to move forward."   

Dr. Yang, along with Ms. Tran, owner of Spectrum Pharmacy, and Dr. Truong with Long Beach Primary Care Associates are all working with the property owner to move back into the reconstructed East Anaheim Plaza in spring and summer of 2024.

Jasmine Tran, Owner of Spectrum Pharmacy shared that she and her team are “looking very forward to moving back to the Plaza in the Spring of 2024 in a brand new space where we will continue serving customers and the residents of Long Beach.” Ms. Tran has owned the pharmacy for seven years.

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Learn about the other businesses and their recovery since the fires.

• Spectrum Pharmacy has relocated to 1432 Atlantic Avenue, at the corner of Anaheim Street and Atlantic Avenue. 
• Long Beach Primary Care Associates is now at 611 Anaheim Street at that same corner.  
• Viet Long Income Tax is now at 836 Anaheim Street, directly across the street from the site of East Anaheim Plaza. 
• Van Thuan Phat, a traditional Chinese and herbal medicine store, has moved to 1251 Anaheim Street, at the corner of Anaheim Street and Orange Avenue. 
• Mimi’s Hair Salon was owned by Steven Pham, who is currently renting booth space inside another salon at 2403 Anaheim Street.  
• Subway Sandwiches franchise owners Satwinder Singh and Manjit Kaur reopened in June at 1160 E 7th Street. 
• King’s JR was a restaurant owned by Yukon Oh and Soon Oh. They currently co-own Poly Burgers located near the corner of Anaheim Street and Atlantic Avenue.