All that remains of Tiki Tom’s waterfront restaurant and bar this morning is a burned-out shell, destroyed by a spectacular three-alarm fire which began late Thursday night. Flames were reported reaching up into the sky about 11:15 p.m. at the single-story building on 29th Avenue at the foot of the Park Street Bridge that leads into Alameda. The restaurant, which is usually open Thursdays, was closed for the night, said neighbors from a nearby condominium complex, and the restaurant’s owner had not responded to phone calls from fire officials as of Friday morning. No injuries were reported.
When firefighters arrived, the building was fully engulfed. The roof soon collapsed and the blaze took crews about three hours to control, said Oakland fire Capt. Marlon Brandle.
“We were able to fight the fire from both sides by bringing the fire boat into service, which pumped water onto the structure from the estuary,” he said. “Because of budget cuts, the fire house that kept the boat was closed, but the boat is still maintained in case of earthquake emergency. And as it happened, we had a marine engineer here on the scene fighting the fire, and he was able to get the boat out for us.”
Crews were still spraying down hot spots early this morning. The cause of the fire is under investigation. A boat tied up to the dock behind the restaurant also caught fire because of the blaze, and a limo parked in front of the building was also damaged.
The
building had housed the Pier 29 restaurant for decades until that establishment moved to Alameda. Tiki Tom’s took over a few years ago, with its distinctive giant inflatable frog atop the building. The frog was also destroyed.
“It’s probably in the middle of all that somewhere,” Brandle said.
