Fire Continues To Smolder On Iconic Oceanside Pier

OCEANSIDE, CA — Dozens of firefighters continued to work Friday to extinguish a massive fire that erupted on the iconic Oceanside Pier.

After working through the night, firefighters continued to spray the smoldering areas Friday from firefighting boats.

Firefighters have contained the blaze to the far west end of the pier. Crews removed some planks across the pier for fire access and to protect the rest of the pier, which is known as the longest wooden pier on the West Coast.

Oceanside Fire Chief David Parsons said crews saved roughly 90 percent of the pier.

"I'm going to speculate that this pier will remain," he said during a Friday morning news conference. "It will be rebuilt."

The fire continued to smolder due to the girth of the wood, according to the Oceanside Fire Department. As of Friday morning, 48 personnel, including 36 firefighters, were fighting the fire.

Parsons said he anticipated fire crews to remain at the scene for at least a couple days.

Officials closed the beach and surrounding water areas until further notice. The public was urged to avoid the area.

"It's a public safety issue if people are coming into the water," Parsons said during a news conference Friday. "There's a lot of debris in this water. There's a lot of runoff from the fire."

The blaze sparked around 3 p.m. Thursday inside a building, formerly Ruby's Diner, on the end of the pier, according to the department. Flames damaged the pier and also spread to Brine Box, a smaller eatery adjacent to the former diner.

Brine Box and the vacant restaurant, which was being remodeled, were heavily damaged, Parsons said. He clarified that the kitchen area of the former diner was being used to support Brine Box.

First responders arrived five minutes after the fire was reported, according to the department. Firefighters battled the blaze from the pier, as well as aboard firefighting boats and water-dropping helicopters.

On Thursday, the response included 144 firefighters, 30 lifeguards and 32 police officers.

Camp Pendleton, Carlsbad and Vista fire departments, as well as Cal Fire, SDG&E and the U.S. Coast Guard assisted in the firefight. The crew aboard Coast Guard Cutter Sea Otter, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in San Diego, fought the fire with pumps and hoses.

"I had goosebumps watching our people, our lifeguards, our police officers and our partners going to task and getting this accomplished," Parsons said. "It was sad, but then special at the same time."

There were no injuries. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

"Everyone has been accounted for," Mayor Esther Sanchez said during a news conference Thursday. "Everyone is safe that was in and around that area, including any workers that were onsite."

The city was expected to proclaim a local emergency to begin the process of cost recovery, officials said. The city's Emergency Operations Center remained activated Friday.

The beach and The Strand were closed from Surfrider to Tyson Street due to materials washing ashore. An environmental cleanup crew was expected to comb the beach to collect debris, officials said.

Signage and barricades were installed, and security was patrolling the area.

The Junior Seau Beach Community Center at 300 North Strand was closed through the weekend.

Sanchez said the city was committed to rebuilding the pier.

"This pier is so very, very important to the citizens of Oceanside," Sanchez said. "It is iconic. It is Oceanside."

Sanchez said this was the first time there had ever been a fire on the pier.

The Oceanside Pier spans 1,954 feet, according to Visit Oceanside. The original pier was constructed in 1888, but it was destroyed by rough seas in 1890. It was rebuilt in 1896 and destroyed again in 1902. The most recent version of the pier opened in 1987.