Huntington Beach : Early-Morning Fire Hits Former Restaurant

An abandoned pizza restaurant was heavily damaged by a fire early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The fire at the former Shakey’s Pizza Restaurant, 19300 Beach Blvd., destroyed about half the structure and caused about $100,000 damage, fire officials said.

The cause of the fire had not been determined, but investigators said it was of suspicious nature.

The fire started in a storage room near the center of the building, officials said. The storage room once was used as a food pantry.

The restaurant had been closed for about two months, and the furniture and other contents had been removed, officials said.

Authorities said transients may have been living in the building. The blaze was reported at 1:28 a.m. by a neighbor.