A fire destroyed an abandoned building in Liberty Station on Wednesday night, and investigators were working to determine the cause.
The blaze was reported around 8:35 p.m. on Cushing Road near Roosevelt Road in a 6,000-square-foot building that had previously been used as a recreation center, San Diego-Fire Rescue officials said.
When firefighters arrived, they saw flames as high as 40 feet coming from the structure, Battalion Chief Chris Babler told media at the scene. Firefighters made an initial push inside the building but were only able to search about 30% of it before the rain-heavy roof and extreme fire conditions prompted the building to show signs of collapse, Babler said.
A second-alarm response was requested, and more than 100 firefighters were assigned to the incident at one point.
The blaze sent a large plume of smoke over Point Loma.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. No injuries were reported.
The blaze caused an estimated $2.5 million in damage, city officials said Thursday.
While some buildings at the former U.S. Navy training facility date back to the 1920s, this one was built by the Navy in the 1990s, according to city officials. The structure, known as Building 619, is owned by the city and not among the privately held part of Liberty Station that has been redeveloped in recent years.
The building, which at one point had also operated as a child-care facility for Navy families, was recently a site of interest for a proposed community aquatic center at NTC Park.
Officials said the abandoned building was a known fire risk; crews had responded to a blaze there about six months ago. The city took additional measures after that to keep people out.
“We know people seek shelter here for cold weather and rain,” Babler told Sideo.TV. “We also know kids come here to play and vandalize the building — that was well documented by the San Diego Police Department and Harbor PD.”
