By LUKE VOOGT
A LARGE blaze tore through an equipment shed at Ocean Grove Golf Club on 29 April causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage.
The fire started about 10.15am and the smoke billowing from the shed could be seen from kilometres away, as residents looked on.
Nearby resident Dale Park said his wife called triple-zero after hearing an explosion and seeing the fire erupt.
“I reckon there were gas bottles in there,” Mr Park said.
“It nearly blew her off the bloody treadmill!”
The golf club’s chairman of greens Ray Danks watched from the course, as fire burned through shed and the roof collapsed.
He said the fire would have destroyed the course’s automatic watering system and computer systems, along with other maintenance equipment.
“We’d be talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage once you take the building into account,” he said.
Two fire trucks from Ocean Grove and one from Barwon Heads attended the blaze and heavy rains helped firefighters bring it under control by 11.45am.
On 5 May the Voice spoke to Ocean Grove Fire Brigade officer in charge Ian Beswicke, who said investigations had found the fire to be non-suspicious.
He said a maintenance vehicle caught fire after one of the greenskeepers parked it in the shed, causing the blaze.
Club president Colin Stephens said the fire had caused about $200,000 in damage.
“Thankfully, no-one was hurt,” he said.
Mr Stephens thanked the Barwon Heads, Curlewis and Portarlington golf clubs, for their offers of support, as well as his club’s volunteers.
“We’ve got enough equipment to keep going,” he said.
“We are doing our best to maintain the course the way it is – but it will take five to six months to get things back to normal.”
