NBC 7 obtained drone footage showing the views in Oceanside on Thursday afternoon as a massive plume of black smoke filled the sky, stemming from a fire that erupted near the western end of the city's iconic pier.
"I was actually working at my studio down the street, and I just saw the smoke," Miah Idema told NBC 7. "I literally just got my drone up in the office, flew it out my back window, and I was here in 20 seconds."
More coverage on Oceanside Pier fire:
The scene drew in hundreds of others who watched as crews scrambled for several hours to battle the blaze that was reported around 3 p.m., officials said. A vacant building at the pier's end that used to be a Ruby's Diner was engulfed in flames.
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Crews were still working on the fire as of 8:20 p.m. and were expected to continue through the night, the Oceanside Fire Department said in an X post. Oceanside Fire Chief David Parsons said during Thursday night's news conference that "excellent progress" has been made.
"We're not going to say we have full knockdown, meaning there's still some hidden flame in some areas that we're having a hard time getting to and that's what the fire boats are working on right now," Parsons said.
Idema's drone caught the earlier moments of the fire.
"As I got closer and closer, I kind of realized how serious this was going to be for the pier and Oceanside and just kind of the history of what this represents here," he said.
Idema says he grew up in the area and that the Oceanside Pier and the Ruby's Diner that shut down three years ago were a big part of his childhood.
"My mom used to take me here on beach days, and it's gone, so that's going to be a thing of the past," Idema said.
