Beloved Oceanside pier engulfed in flames while surfers bob and weep

The heart of a city catches fire.

“The Oceanside Fire Department is currently engaged in fighting a fire on the Oceanside Pier, OFD reported an hour ago. “We are asking all citizens to please stay away from the immediate area.”

The end of the pier is now aflame, blue-black smoke rising and blowing south and mean.
Multiple firefighting squads and a Coast Guard vessel are working the blaze from the water as a crowd stands on the sand, wailing. I lay prostrate on the walk, pink cheek to the asphalt, tears burning.

No reports yet of what sparked the blaze, but it’s assumed that the Brine Box, the little chow spot opened last year on the tip, is ash. Likely the bait shop, too.

Oceanside Pier splits two waves, north- and south-side. Wiggle out along the pilings and fish hooks and you are sure to make a good morning of it. Be a part of some animal locomotion in the shade of the planks.

The pier—originally called a wharf by cranky sailors scooting around Cape Horn on cow hide trade routes—was first constructed in 1887. Rough seas knocked it down twice in 1890 and 1902.

Until the last couple a’ years, Oceanside had long been immune to major development and is one of the last places along US coastlines with relatively inexpensive housing for its citizens who work ten-hour days hanging drywall, shoveling gravel or working in shaping bays. Some parts aren’t as shiny as its neighboring cities, making Oceanside a bit raw, but affordable and unmolested from corporate hands.

Until recently. New condos, wave pool deals. Officials upgrading like a Bezos’ chic.

The pier, though, serves as a reminder of the beautiful grit that is OC. Walk it and see lovers loving, junkies wobbling, little Hispanic women in gray hoodies locked around their brown faces dropping their lines and praying for bonito. Oh, beautiful grit.

Last year, the city spent $5.5 million to upgrade aging pipes and electrical systems on the pier. Let’s hope those subcontractors are bonded and insured and on holiday.