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Hanover Twp. blaze

Golf clubhouse fire rekindles

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The clubhouse at Indian Ridge Golf Course caught fire Tuesday, June 23, 2009 for the second time in two days. The original fire occurred and was put out early Monday, June 22, 2009, but rekindled.

Photo by Greg Lynch The clubhouse at Indian Ridge Golf Course caught fire Tuesday, June 23, 2009 for the second time in two days. The original fire occurred and was put out early Monday, June 22, 2009, but rekindled.

State investigators call fire in and it was put out within three hours.

By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer Updated 2:38 AM Wednesday, June 24, 2009

HANOVER TWP. — Just as state and local officials were beginning to investigate a Monday blaze that destroyed the clubhouse at Indian Ridge Golf Course in Hanover Twp., a fire rekindled at 10:35 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, sending firefighters from surrounding areas back to the scene on U.S. 27 (Millville-Oxford Road).

Fire units from Reily, Milford and Somerville townships and the city of Oxford were called to haul tankers of water to the fire, which was described by dispatchers as “fully involved.”

Smoke was visible for miles, according to witnesses, but golfers were still playing on the course.

A preliminary investigation indicates the rekindled fire started in a portion of a roof still standing above the pro shop area.

“The state investigators called it in,” said Hanover Twp. Fire Deputy Chief Fred Stitsinger. By about 1 p.m., the second blaze in two days had been extinguished and state and local investigators went back to work looking for a cause.

Shane Cartmill, public information officer for the state fire marshal’s office, said the investigation could take a week to complete.

At about 12:40 a.m. Monday, Hanover Twp. firefighters were called to the clubhouse located near Oxford and found flames shooting from the front of it near the pro shop, said Stitsinger.

“It had been burning for a while,” the deputy chief said about the Monday morning fire.

Firefighters were in the 7,000-square-foot log building about 20 minutes Monday when a portion of the floor collapsed into the basement, which housed the banquet rooms, Stitsinger said.

“It was unsafe then. We pulled everyone out,” he said.

The firefighting mode was then defensive rather than working to save the building and contents.

Stitsinger said the first thing that went though his mind when the floor caved-in was a fatal fire in Colerain Twp. in April 2008 that claimed the lives of two firefighters when the family room floor collapsed while they were fighting a house fire.

“We were very lucky,” Stitsinger said. “I like to say we are good, but I think luck has something to do with it, too.”

Stitsinger said Indian Ridge also was the scene of a large fire several years ago that destroyed a maintenance building.

The golf course facility is located on land owned and farmed by the parents of state Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Hanover Twp. Derickson is one of many partners in the development that opened 11 years ago.

Derickson said Tuesday, “It is sad the building is gone, but there was no one hurt, that’s what matters. It could have been much worse.”

He said he plans to make available a second building on the land — also a large log structure that once housed a furniture store — for use of receptions previously booked for the clubhouse.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.

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We are saddened of the news about the loss of the Club House structure. As a former Volunteer Firefighter in Geneva-On-The-Lake,Ohio I realize the extreme risk there would be in having any personell working high pressure lines inside a "Fireplace". May I suggest Synthetic Log structure for the re-build.

bobby freeman
12:29 PM, 6/24/2009

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The fire is still under investigation... The firefighters that responded to the original fire and the rekindle did a good job! Unless these people badmouthing the efforts of the fire departments on the scene know EXACTLY the situation there then they should keep their mouths shut! And Nice, you need to get your story straight before opening your mouth. Obviously, you weren't on the scene or you would know that there were no firefighters in the building when the floor collapsed!

whatever
8:46 AM, 6/24/2009

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Big thick logs, like this place was built out of, are a lot harder to extinguish than common lumber that normal homes are built out of. Once those big timbers get burning, they keep hot spots deep inside them. A rekindle on this type of structure is not at all uncommon.

Jamie
7:16 AM, 6/24/2009

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....."then the floor caves in when there are firefighters in the building." Hey nice - where does it say anywhere in the article that there were firefighters in the building when the floor collapsed. I think it says that they were pulled out before the collapse. hmmmmm guessing that the department made the right call. Guessing that your dept never has rekindles, that is if your on a dept.

buzz
4:56 PM, 6/23/2009

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Would someone please proofread this article? I don't think they Journal News employs proofreaders!

linda
4:19 PM, 6/23/2009

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