SHORT TAKES : Gilley’s Fire Ruled as Arson

The fire that destroyed the landmark Gilley’s country-western nightclub has been ruled arson, authorities said.

Pasadena Fire Marshal Bill Yearout declined to reveal how or where Thursday’s fire broke out. He said arson investigators have several leads and don’t want to release details while the investigation continues.

Gilley’s had been closed since March 1989 because of a legal dispute between country-western singer Mickey Gilley and his one-time partner in the nightclub, Sherwood Cryer.

Fire officials say souvenir hunters are taking pieces from the ruins of the building where the movie “Urban Cowboy” was filmed.