An early-morning June 1 fire that may have started in the clubhouse kitchen left the main facility of the 92-year-old Redford Twp., Mich. property a total loss, but the golf course remained open and club officials and managers were already discussing rebuilding plans. No one was in the building at the time, and one firefighter was taken to the hospital for breathing difficulties.
The talk turned to rebuilding even before the flames were out on the morning of June 1st at Western Golf and Country Club in Redford Township, Mich., the Detroit Free Press reported.
“It’s obviously a total loss,” Andrew Arena, Vice President of the club’s Board of Directors, said as firefighters from four communities battled the blaze in the club’s main building. “We’ll rebuild and move on.”
The fire, which may have started in the clubhouse kitchen, was spotted at about 5:30 a.m., the Free Press reported. No one was inside the building at the time.
Redford Fire Chief Scott Demoff told the Free Press that a township firefighter was taken to a hospital after complaining of breathing difficulties and tightness in his chest.
Arena, a 10-year club member, told the Free Press that he had talked with several club officials and managers at the scene and the theme of their conversations was, “What are we going to do to keep this club moving forward?”
The 92-year-old Western G&CC, Arena said, is “a real family club” with about 400 member families. The club features an 18-hole golf course, a pool, tennis courts and banquet facilities.
Employees at the scene were crying over the loss, Arena said. “They’re devastated,” he said.
“Other clubs are already calling [to say] ‘How can we help you,'” Arena, a former FBI special agent in charge of the Detroit office, told the Free Press.
“It’s a resilient club,” he added. Workers were sprucing up the golf course despite the fire, he said, and there was a good chance that golf would be played at the club over the weekend.
The pool, Arena said, will likely take longer to reopen, because of its proximity to the main building.
Arena said the fire was spotted by golf course employees and that he was told it started in the kitchen.
Demoff told the Free Press that he could not confirm where the fire started, but that an investigation was ongoing. There were no preliminary indications that the fire had been deliberately set, he said.
The last employee to leave the building before the fire was reported did so around midnight or 12:30 a.m., the chief said.
A 17-year Redford Fire Department veteran, Demoff said the Western fire is one of the township’s biggest in years. “It’s a sad day for Redford to lose it,” he said.
Asked about the likelihood that the club could resume operations, Demoff said it appeared to have the facilities, including a building elsewhere on the golf course, that would allow provisional arrangements.
“The building that’s behind me, that’s not going to be accessible at all,” he added.
The Free Press’s full report can be read at https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/redford/2018/06/01/blaze-destroys-main-building-western-golf-and-country-club/663161002/
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