Fire Strands 150 People on Seal Beach Pier

Flames burst from the midsection of the city pier Saturday, stranding a small crowd of fishermen, strollers and diners until firefighters were able to douse the fire and hose down smoldering planks.

There were no reported injuries and the fire, which erupted shortly after 3 p.m., was quelled within an hour, according to authorities. Investigators ruled out arson and said the fire appeared to be sparked by electrical wires, the same type of blaze that shut down the pier two years ago.

Some witnesses reported hearing a loud blast before seeing plumes of black smoke and flames licking up from beneath the pier.

Once the flames were doused, firefighters kept the crowd of about 150 people waiting at the end of the pier while they hosed down the midsection and sawed and chopped several dozen wood chunks to determine whether the fire was out. Later, sheets of plywood were placed over the holes and small groups of pier visitors gingerly crossed over the charred section and returned to the street.

Randall Martens, 37, of Norwalk wheeled over the damaged section with a shopping cart of fish supplies and a catch of mackerel that his friend, Victor Correa, 24, snared while waiting for their rescue.

“We were just getting ready to leave when we heard the blast,” Martens said. “I thought it was a plane at first because it was so loud. I looked back at my pole and then I started to smell smoke. Then I started to see shooting flames.”

It was unclear Saturday how long the pier would remain closed because investigators were still checking for fire damage.

The popular pier has weathered a series of disasters over the years and this is the third time in a decade that it has been closed. On May 15, 1992, an electrical fire in a lifeguard tower damaged the general area of Saturday’s blaze. The tower was relocated. In 1983, a fierce winter storm all but destroyed the municipal pier.

When the fire erupted Saturday, most of the pier’s visitors reacted calmly, following the orders of a helicopter pilot who commanded them to head toward the 1950s style diner at the end of the pier.

“Everybody looked like they behaved themselves, almost like it was a rehearsal,” Long Beach Fire Lt. Bill Forrester said.

Some diners actually were more irritated that they could not get more coffee in the midst of the crisis, said waitress Eileen Szpilac, 25.

“Nobody panicked,” she said. “They just kept eating.”