OCEANSIDE, Calif. — Two weeks after a devastating fire destroyed the far west end of the Oceanside Pier, the city reopened 80% of it to the public Friday morning. People crossed the pier on their way to fish and enjoy the morning on the historic pier, which is a big draw for locals, as well as tourists.
The pier reopened Friday at 7:00 a.m. and regular hours of 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. will begin Saturday.
"We are so excited, so very very excited," said Mayor Esther Sanchez. "We didn't know how long it was going to take, we were hoping before the end of May, and it's actually a lot sooner than that."
The fire damaged a portion of the pier, known as the 'hammerhead,' which is where the old Ruby's Diner was located and fire crews expect the clean-up and rebuilding process will take quite a while.
"The visual I saw [the day of the fire] I was fearful we were going to lose 25-30% of the pier," said Deputy Fire Chief Jessamyn Specht on Thursday, May 9. "So to come out here less than three weeks later and see that we saved 93% of the pier and we're ready to reopen tomorrow morning, it gives me a pretty good sense of accomplishment and a lot of pride in my fire department for the work that we did."
According to fire investigators, the cause is believed to be accidental. They suspect the fire may have started underneath the pier. City officials have been talking with officials in Seal Beach, where a similar fire happened at the end of that pier back in 2016, also in a vacant Ruby's Diner. The cause of that fire was electrical. Rebuilding the structure took three years.
During an all-out multi-agency effort that continued for more than 24 hours, crews were able to save roughly 95% of the 1,950-foot-long wooden structure, according to city officials. Emergency services personnel from agencies across the county battled the flames from atop the burning pier, aboard a pair of firefighting boats and in water-dropping helicopters. The Coast Guard sent in a cutter to aid in handling the emergency.
Over the course of the around-the-clock firefight, crews put a "trench cut" in the deck, removing a section of it to allow for access to flames burning underneath it and to prevent the blaze from traveling any farther down the pier to the east, the fire chief said.
Watch Related: Tour of Oceanside Pier with Mayor Sanchez as the pier is set to reopen (May 9, 2024)