The debut of Blaze Fast Fire’d Pizza in Old Towne Orange this week could prompt an old-fashioned pizza war in city’s historic plaza.

Blaze will go head-to-head with another new arrival, Pizza Press, which opened March 28 on the northern spoke of the quaint downtown. Both pizza eateries offer customized, individual pizzas plus a set menu, beer, salads and desserts.

For Blaze franchisee Reza Medali, his decision to open in Orange’s historic plaza was a no-brainer.

“I live in Orange. I always wanted to have a business in Old Towne and what could be a better location than this?” he said. “It’s a corner lot and you really feel like part of the circle. You can see the whole thing from here.”

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The plaza is built around a traffic circle, and in recent years it has boomed with new businesses, from restaurants to retail.

Darien Hernandez, the assistant manager at Pizza Press, said that he didn’t think Blaze would affect his store.

“We already have a loyal customer base. We have great service and a lot of regulars,” he said. “We are very close with the community and Chapman University.”

Old Towne also is home to a third pizza shop, Zito’s, which offers a full-service restaurant setting.

Blaze is in the former RadioShack location. The electronics retailer toiled for years nationwide and finally went bankrupt and shuttered more than 1,700 stores earlier this year.

Converting the retail storefront into a pizza place was no easy task, Medali said.

He spent close to $1 million preparing the space – uncovering and restoring historic glass windows, raising and installing a strong wooden floor to support the 7-ton oven, adding more air conditioning and power sources and painting the interior and exterior of the building.

To celebrate its grand opening, Blaze will offer free pizzas all day Friday to anyone who follows the brand on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Medali expects to make more than 2,000 pizzas.

After its opening weekend, he expects to make 800-1,000 pizzas per day.

The 3,500-square-foot store has seating for 90 people. Customers can watch the pizza preparation as they order. The large oven can cook 18 pizzas at a time and eschews the conveyor belt ovens often used at pizza stores.

The location will mark Medali’s third Blaze location. He also has Blaze restaurants in Monrovia and downtown Brea. So far he has hired 54 employees, many of whom are part-time, for the Orange location. He also owns eight Subway restaurants.

Blaze opened its first location in Irvine in 2012. It now operates 70 restaurants in 19 states and D.C. It was founded by Elise and Rick Wetzel, who is the co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels. Celebrity backers include LeBron James, Maria Shriver and more.

Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans