By Sandra G. Leon

The empty restaurant building at the end of the Oceanside pier caught fire on Thursday afternoon and burned for hours before being extinguished by fire crews.

Formerly the home of Rudy’s Diner for more than 25 years until its closing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the shuttered restaurant location began burning around 3:00 pm on April 25th and send plumes of smoke into the sky that could be visible for miles.

More than 100 fire personnel responded to the fire which was contained to less than 10% of the 1,954 foot-long pier built in 1987.

The Oceanside City Council is expected to declare the incident a local state of emergency within 10 days in order to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding for repairs.

The current pier at the end of Pier View Way is the sixth one built in Oceanside after earlier ones were destroyed or damaged. The first pier in Oceanside was a 300-foot wooden pier built in 1888 at the foot of what is now Wisconsin Street but was destroyed just two years later during a heavy storm.

The replacement pier, built in 1896 at the same location as the current pier, lasted only six years before it was destroyed by heavy weather.

Rudy’s still operates its original restaurant at the end of Newport Beach’s Balboa pier.