It took firefighters from seven different jurisdictions about an hour to knock down flames that gutted a vacant water park in Redlands early Saturday and caused an estimated $750,000 in damages, officials said.
Crews responding to Splash Kingdom around 5:30 a.m. saw heavy smoke coming from the pyramid-style structure that’s visible from the 10 Freeway at California Street, according to the Redlands Fire Department.
Nobody was injured and the flames didn’t burn any other structure, but the building sustained heavy fire and smoke damage, the Fire Department said. The building’s sprinklers didn’t activate, according to authorities.
Crews from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Loma Linda, Rialto, Colton and San Bernardino also responded to the incident, as well as an ambulance from American Medical Response and personnel from Southern California Edison who cut electricity to the structure.
What ignited the blaze remains under investigation, the Redlands Fire Department said.
The 17-acre park opened in 1996 as “Pharaoh’s Lost Kingdom” before undergoing ownership changes and renovations while facing trouble with the city over code violations, the Press-Enterprise reported.
The most recent post on the park’s Facebook page promoted a Super Bowl viewing in February.
Park officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
