"[18] Adjacent structures not owned by Fraser included the Dragon's Gorge roller coaster,[19] and Charles I. Looff's Hippodrome, which housed one of the Danish artisan's famed carousels.

The Ocean Park fire that destroyed Fraser's Million Dollar Pier was discovered between 4:45 and 4:55 p.m.[38] on the evening of Tuesday, September 3, 1912, in the Coney Island chowder house in the Casino building.

[42] Firefighters were somewhat delayed in getting to the scene because they had to fight "heavy traffic as thousands of spectators were driving toward the awesome thick black cloud of smoke that was obscuring the setting sun.

"[28] In 1975, a Santa Monica author wrote, "The writer of this history and his cousin, Bernard Evans, young boys at the time, ran from the 900 block on Third Street to the scene of the fire and remained there until a rumor went through the crowd to the effect that buildings would be dynamited in order to create a firebreak...This was not done, but the rumor did serve to disperse the crowd.

[44] A week-old newborn, pair of Mexican-American twins, and a 14-ounce (400 g) Japanese-American micro-preemie were among the infants transferred to nearby St. Catherine's Hospital.

Neighboring attractions, including Looff's Hippodrome with its carousel,[20] the Dragon Gorge roller coaster,[42] and the Revolving Grotto,[45] were all destroyed as well.

[45] Firefighters were able to hold the line at Trolleyway between 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. when the wind shifted and began blowing the fire and smoke back toward the water.

[42][43] The Ocean Park fire that started on Fraser's Million Dollar Pier destroyed 220 to 225 structures in a six-block area between Navy Street and Ashland Avenue.

[49][50] Reconstruction began quickly, with loads of lumber arriving in short order and capitalists announcing plans to rebuild Ocean Park.