Crime & Safety

Watch: Fire at Seal Beach Pier Destroys Old Ruby's Diner

Thick black smoke billowed from a fire that destroyed the iconic former Ruby's Diner. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

SEAL BEACH, CA - Firefighters are on the scene of a fire on the Seal Beach Pier, where an abandoned Ruby's Diner has been destroyed by the blaze.

The blaze broke out just after 7:30 a.m. at the abandoned Ruby's Diner. Within an hour, the roof had collapsed, completely destroying the building. by 9 a.m., the fire was largely extinguished.

About 70 firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County Harbor Patrol and the Long Beach and Huntington Beach fire departments helped fight the blaze. Four fire boats helped with the battle.

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The cause of the fire is still under investigation, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.

"That area was chained off," he said. "There is a chain that kept people out."

Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The pier itself survived the fire, but it remains closed off as the ashes continue to smolder.

— KTLA 5 Morning News (@KTLAMorningNews) May 20, 2016

About 70 firefighters from the Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County Harbor Patrol and the Long Beach and Huntington Beach fire departments helped fight the blaze. Four fire boats helped with the battle.

“This morning we got a report of a fire at the end of the pier at 7:34,” said Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Dave Spencer. “The building was vacant at the time.”

Firefighters are approaching the scene with caution due to the danger of the fire on a wooden pier.

“Certainly we are concerned about the structural integrity of the pier,” said spencer.

The abandoned Ruby's is fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters are spraying water directly from the ocean onto the flames.

The wooden pier is one of the longest wooden piers on the West Coast. The iconic restaurant closed its doors in January of 2013 after 25 years of slinging burgers for beachgoers. The building had been abandoned and in a state of disrepair ever since then.

City officials had hoped to lease the building to another family restaurant, but the condition of the building was so poor, the city sued Ruby's, accusing the business of leaving $570,000 worth of maintenance and renovations undone, according to court records.

The building has been closed to the public since then, making an eyesore of the city's main tourist draw.

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Image Credit: @hannahstevs

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