Local News in Brief : Suspected Cause of Fire

Investigators will never know for sure what caused a spectacular fire that destroyed nearly half of the Redondo Beach Pier two months ago, but an electrical problem is suspected, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Redondo Beach Fire Department report also says a news helicopter flying too close to the blaze intensified the fire and made fighting it more difficult. But it added that the damage probably would have been just as extensive without the chopper.

Although the cause was not determined, the report concludes that the May 27 fire was accidental. The blaze destroyed about 34,000 square feet of the horseshoe-shaped section of the pier, including 15 businesses, and caused $7 million in damage.

Two days later, wind-swept waves battered the pier and washed away most of the what remained of the fire-ravaged structure, and with it much of the fire evidence.

As for the suspect electrical equipment, Battalion Chief Pat Aust said: “Nobody’s been able to pinpoint whose electrical equipment it was. We know it was under the Breakers restaurant.”

An electrical panel beneath the restaurant had been replaced after it was destroyed in a January storm, the report said.

The pilot faulted in the report, Bob Tur of the Los Angeles News Service, could not be reached for comment. He is the same pilot who rescued more than 50 people from an oceanfront hotel in Redondo Beach during a January storm.