Flames damaged Gossip Grill in Hillcrest, San Diego's only LGBTQ+ women's bar, early Friday morning, according to San Diego police.
San Diego Police Department arrested a suspect on Friday and the Metro Arson Strike Team is investigating the fire as an arson, police said.
At 12:30 a.m., San Diego police received a call about a fire on the back patio of the bar located at 1220 University Ave., according to SDPD.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Department firefighters arrived and found an awning in the back of the bar on fire and knocked it down by 12:39 a.m., police said.
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Later in the day, around 1:45 p.m., the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Ryan Habrel, was spotted near the scene and taken into custody, SDPD Lt. Adam T. Sharki said in a statement.
"Habrel was arrested and booked into jail for arson to a commercial structure and the use of an accelerant," Sharki said. "The investigation is ongoing and there is no indication at this time that this is hate-crime-related."
Gossip Grill's Facebook and Instagram pages posted footage on Friday morning showing flames burning in several spots on the ground by the outside seating areas and electrical equipment.
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The bar's open-air seating area, overhead awning and outside decorations were damaged by the fire, video shows.
The damage was confined to the awning. No damage was done to the inside of the restaurant and no one was injured, police said. The estimated cost of damage is about $10,000, police said.
The bar does have cameras and used footage to aid SDPD in their investigation, the business wrote on social media.
Despite the damage, the bar wrote on social media that they will still be open for regular business hours on Friday.
Gossip Grill in Hillcrest is one of only 21 women-focused bars left in the U.S.
NBC 7 spoke with Moe Girton, owner of Gossip Grill, who rushed down to the location when she heard her business was on fire.
Girton said that both patios were on fire and SDFD assumed it was electrical, but that struck her as strange because both patios are not connected and the power was off.
Girton said that at the time of the fire, two employees were inside the building getting ready to leave and that the business was closed.
She added that she feels fortunate.
"Very lucky that everything is fire-resistant. The fire department was here super quick. Security from Rich's came over to help. Everyone just kind of jumped in," Girton said.
