Floorboards torn out will be reinstalled.

The cause of the historic fire at the end of the longest wooden pier on the West Coast has become a stew of outrageous hearsay.

A random man-on-the-street poll of Oceansiders about what caused the fire that destroyed a vacant Ruby's Diner building brought out these toxic gems: "The homeless were camping underneath the pier and they had a camp fire." "The city did it for the insurance." "It was arson by people who were kicked off the pier." The best one I heard was that there was a homeless guy who was shooting firecrackers from his boat under the pier.

Oceanside fire officials say it appears to have started under the pier.

At a press conference April 29 city officials said that while the official forensic report has not yet been issued they can at this time rule out two popular theories. First, that there was no welding activity going on, since there was no demolition happening at the time of the fire. Ruby's Diner went out of business at the pier during Covid and the scheduled construction on a new restaurant tenant had not yet begun.

And while the operators of the adjacent Brine Box cafe, operating out of a 10' x 10' building, did have access to the Ruby's building, they were only using a hotplate in the kitchen.

Oceanside fire officials say it appears to have started under the pier and an electrical mishap can't be ruled out.

The city hopes to have 75 percent of the pier re-opened with fencing installed to keep people out of the fire scene at the very west end of the pier. Oceanside's elected officials were optimistic saying this was an opportunity to revitalize the nearly 2000-foot landmark.

This is Oceanside's sixth pier. Press accounts say the previous pier underwent significant storm damage in 1976 which led to the "amputation" or removal of 18 feet from the end of the pier in 1977. "Once that damage happened in '76 the pier sort of went on a downhill slide," says Kristi Hawthorne, director of the Oceanside Historical Society. Reports say that pier visitors could feel the pier "swaying" in heavy surf. After a second 1978 storm the city decided to replace that pier with this one that opened in 1986.

Some 5200 names are etched into railing boards along the side of the pier.

While floorboards torn out during the fire operation will be reinstalled, city engineer Brian Thomas says there are no immediate plans at this time to replace pier pilings. He says typically piers have a life of 50 to 100 years and that he is not aware of any plans to replace this pier.

Hawthorne points out this pier, at 38 years old, has outlasted the previous pier that stood intact for about 30 years.

This was not Oceanside's first pier fire. Kristi Hawthorne of the Historical Society says there was a 1976 fire at the Pier Cafe, also at the end of the pier... "but it was knocked down quickly. That was not the same thing. This fire took like 24 hours to get under control." She says that building was then removed.

"I just want to throw my hands up," says Hawthorne about the rumors circling on social media. "People are saying 'My family helped build this pier' and that's just not true." Some 5200 names are etched into railing boards along the side of the pier. "They collected like $25 or $50 for each name. It was done during Oceanside's centennial celebration in 1988. It was called 'buy a piece of the pier,' but that money was collected by the Centennial Foundation, and it went into the centennial celebration. None of it went to the city to rebuild the pier."

Hawthorne doubts the names lost in the fire will automatically be re-engraved.

Hawthorne says Oceanside Library director C.J DiMento uncovered an hour long video produced in 1987 that told the story of a time capsule being installed in the last piling to be installed at the end of the new pier. "It had items relating to the redevelopment of Oceanside at the time, seven silver dollar-sized medallions with current and former city councilmembers, police badges, and lifeguard patches. The medallions might have survived but I wonder how those patches held up in the fire."

Hawthorne says the pier is a city treasure. "People who fish can get food for their family. It's almost like a city park, a wooden promenade where you can take in the ocean experience. So many people recognize it. It's a beautiful landmark."

The pier inferno seemed to draw all the media attention at the expense of a long-awaited event at he harbor that launched just three days later.

The first weekend saw six pop-up kiosks sell out most of its fish. Halibut was the first to go.

After two years of battling Oceanside city bureaucracy, Oceanside native Travis Tielens says he was finally allowed to unveil his weekly fresh fish market where local fishermen can sell their freshly caught catch directly to local consumers.

"This is the second market like this is California," says Tielens. "It was allowed by [2016 state law] AB 226 which is also called Pacific To Plate." He says this Oceanside market follows the lead of Harbor Dockside Market in Seaport Village.

The first weekend saw six pop-up kiosks sell out most of their locally-caught fish. Halibut was the first to go. Some vendors sold still-alive sheepshead, crab, and black cod that were swimming in buckets.

"People were saying 'I can't believe it's been this hard to get fresh fish, when we live so close to the ocean,' " says Tielens. "A lot of people were asking for tuna and sea bass, but those fish haven't moved into our waters yet. Eventually we'll get mackerel, sardines, and of course live lobster."

Tielens says his dream to bring a fresh fish market to the harbor faced big resistance.

"They gave me all these cease-and-desists, telling me my permits would not be issued."

Tielens says city staffers (he would rather not name) did everything possible to stop his fish market. "This has been a struggle with the city for over two years. They gave me all these cease-and-desists, telling me my permits would not be issued. Finally Mayor [Esther] Sanchez dropped what she was doing and stepped in to make this happen."

Then there's the salty locals who actually do the fishing. "Oceanside fishermen have a reputation as roughnecks who can't work together," says Tielens. "Fisherman aren't necessarily the most social types. I had to ask them to put their egos aside and look at the bigger picture."

But a declining supply of fish was not one of Pielens' worries. "The year before last was the most fish ever caught off Southern California," he says. "The biggest ever biomass of yellowfin is right now off Point Conception. The ocean is pretty abundant right now. There is more halibut now than I've ever seen in my life."

Tielens, 36, has been fishing for 25 years. He has a  yearlong permit for the market but says he sees no reason it would end.

The Fishermen's Market of North County is held every Sunday from 8am to 2pm in the parking area just north of Joe's Crab Shack restaurant in the Oceanside Harbor.