Seal Beach Pier Fire’s Cause Still Unknown : Repairs: Investigators ‘feel comfortable’ it wasn’t arson, but what sparked blaze is yet to be determined. Structure is closed indefinitely while officials assess damage to lifeguard tower and midsection.

Fire investigators pried up charred, wooden planks and surveyed a gutted lifeguard tower Saturday in an attempt to assess the damage and determine the cause of Friday’s fire on the Seal Beach Pier.

The pier has been closed indefinitely until the severity of structural damage can be determined, fire officials said.

“I don’t think anyone has a good idea how long the pier’s going to be closed,” said Orange County Fire Battalion Chief Greg Petersen. “We still don’t have a good feel for how much damage was done.”

Petersen said that investigators “feel comfortable that it wasn’t arson” and are now looking into other causes of the blaze. One theory is that the fire was caused by electrical wiring or equipment stored inside the lifeguard tower, located near the middle of the pier.

The tower was destroyed by the fire and will have to be removed from the pier, Petersen said. As he spoke, one investigator recorded the damage with a video camera, while others lifted up wooden planks to see how deeply the fire had penetrated.

In addition to the tower, about 70 to 100 feet of the pier were blackened by the fire. Petersen said that a structural engineer will be brought in within the next few days to determine the extent of the damage.

“If it’s just a matter of replacing the planks, that could be done pretty quickly, but if the cross timbers or pylons were damaged, that would take a lot longer to fix,” Petersen said.

He estimated repairs will cost from $500,000 to more than $1 million.

“The city has been moving very quickly” to fix the pier, said Petersen. “The pier is a really important thing to the city of Seal Beach. It’s an important asset at the beach.”

Because of the pier closure, two businesses at the end of the pier--Ruby’s restaurant and Seal Beach Port Fishing--have been forced to shut down temporarily.

“They’re not too happy,” Petersen said. Representatives from the businesses could not be reached for comment Saturday.

After the fire, city work crews brought a generator to the end of the pier to give the two businesses electrical power, which had been cut off because of fire damage. The generators are helping the restaurant keep its food cold and the sporting goods store keep bait in fish tanks alive.

Early Saturday morning, cleanup crews combed the beach near the pier and picked up debris that had washed ashore. Fifty-yard stretches of beach on each side of the pier were closed to the public as a safety precaution Saturday, but were expected to be reopened today.

The fire started about 4:30 p.m. Friday and raged out of control for about 20 minutes before firefighting crews were able to maintain it.

During the fire, about 40 to 50 people at the far end of the pier were stranded.

“We had two contingency plans to rescue them if needed,” said Petersen, noting that boats were being called on to pick the people up as well as helicopters. But the people were able to walk back across the pier, past the burned area.

Crucial in containing the fire to only a small portion of the pier was the assistance of the Long Beach Fire Department’s fire boat and an Orange County Sheriff’s Department cutter, which is equipped with a water cannon. The Orange County Fire Department does not have its own fire boat, Petersen said.

On Saturday, at least one group in the community organized to support the pier reconstruction effort. Wendi Hoffman, the vice president of the Junior Women’s Club of Seal Beach, said the group has decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from its lasagna dinner and silent auction, which will be held June 2.

“Hopefully this will help,” said Hoffman.