Demolition begins for building burned in Oceanside Pier fire

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — It’s been over five months since flames destroyed the old Ruby’s Diner on the pier in Oceanside, and now construction crews are starting the difficult work of removing the structure.

Also damaged in the fire was the Brine Box kiosk and other structures on the hammer head of the pier. Now that the fire investigation found that this blaze was a terrible accident, construction crews are able to make their moves.

The damage from the April 25 fire is overall is a lot better than what could have been.

“Good news, we saved 93%, and it was an exercise where we had fire departments and lifeguards from across the county and we had to save that,” said Ryan Keim, the deputy mayor of Oceanside.

Demolition teams are already underway, building out under scaffolding to make sure that anything that does fall through the deck, they will be able to catch before it hits the water.

“The first step is the restaurant on top, so that’s got to get addressed before we address what’s underneath with the piling and the planks,” said Keim.

The view from the water is concerning as experts say only once the structures are fully removed will engineers understand how damaged the hammer head of the pier truly is.

“That should take a couple of weeks and then once we can do that, then we can take the planking off and that’s when we can figure out what kind of damage we had underneath and that’s probably the most important part,” Keim continued.

While the whole process could take as many as 3 years, the deputy mayor said keeping most of the pier open will also be a priority.

“Just do as much as we can not to interrupt daily life at the beach,” Keim explained.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.