UPDATE, 4:25 p.m.:

Humboldt Bay Fire press release:

At approximately 4:00 a.m. on June 3rd Humboldt Bay Fire responded to a reported commercial structure fire at 12 W. Waterfront Drive.

This fire was first noticed by a Eureka Police Officer on patrol in the Old Town area. First arriving units observed a well-established fire in a large vacant commercial building, previously occupied by Eureka Ice and Cold Storage.

This structure, which previously had a significant fire in December of 2016, was estimated at over 50% involvement with heavy fire which was rapidly spreading to the remainder of the building. Due to the building’s deteriorated condition, previous fire history and extent of fire spread the fire was attacked in the “defensive” mode with an emphasis on protecting surrounding properties.

A commercial 2nd alarm was requested and the Humboldt Bay Harbor District’s fire boat supported operations from the Humboldt Bay side of the property. Units from Arcata, Samoa- Peninsula, Blue Lake, Loleta and Cal Fire assisted with fire ground operations and coverage of Humboldt Bay Fire Stations.

The fire was controlled in approximately 3 hours The structure was heavily damaged by the fire. Due to structural instability and risk of injury to passersby excavators were utilized to pull down remaining fire damaged walls and roof joists.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and Humboldt Bay Fire will release further information when it becomes available.

###

UPDATE, 12:50 p.m.:

Humboldt Bay Fire Battalion Chief Chris Jelinek told the Outpost this afternoon that the cause of the fire is still unknown, but that it was likely not an accident.

“There’s really no logical accidental cause for the fire,” Jelinek said. “I don’t know if there’s been recent history of homeless or transient people occupying the building.”

Jelinek also said that the the size of the fire and the damage done before firefighters arrived on scene left little evidence of the fire’s origin.

“It’s more of a general area in which the fire could have started rather than a very specific spot,” he said. “The fire was first discovered by an EPD patrol officer just before 4 a.m. When we got here, I would estimate that about 75 percent of the remaining building was involved with fire. It was a substantial body of fire, very surprising that it wasn’t noticed by passersby or someone driving in Old Town.”

###

Humboldt Bay firefighters extinguished a large warehouse fire at the intersection of Second and Commercial Streets near the Eureka Waterfront early this morning.

Humboldt Bay Fire first reported that it was responding to the incident around 4:30 a.m. on Facebook.

“Humboldt Bay Fire, Arcata Fire, Samoa Fire, Loleta Fire, Humboldt Bay Harbor District Fire Boat and Cal Fire all aiding on incident and covering Humboldt Bay Fire’s area,” the Facebook post reads. 

Photos provided by HBF.

HBF truck 8181 was the first engine on scene, where firefighters recorded the initial video above showing tall flames and waves of thick black smoke shooting up from the warehouse. 

The burned down building is reported to be the old ice packing and cold storage building, which had previously caught fire during a separate incident about five months ago.

HBF reports that firefighters will be in the area for several hours and advises people to stay out out the area.

The Outpost will update this post as more information comes in.