The fire that ravaged a beloved Grosse Pointe Woods country club in Michigan was originally called in as a kitchen fire, officials said.
The clubhouse at Lochmoor Club caught fire on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 9, and still had hot spots being doused the next morning as community members mourned the destruction.
The city’s public safety department responded at 2:41 p.m. local time on Wednesday to a reported kitchen fire at the location and arrived to find smoke and flames coming through the roof, according to a news release posted to the public safety department’s Facebook page shortly after noon on Thursday, Sept. 10.
The post expanded on earlier details from Grosse Pointe Woods Department of Public Safety Director John Kosanke, who told
the Detroit Free Press the prior night that a fire was reported in the ceiling of the club.
The fire was under control before midnight, but a city firetruck remained there overnight to extinguish hot spots, according to the release.
The fire remained under investigation. Officials said they would not release more information, but did express sympathy for the community impact of the fire.
“The historic Lochmoor Club loss is significant for the Grosse Pointe Community; because of the long history of being a prominent part of the area's recreational and social life for more than a century,” the news release stated. “The community will feel this loss for many years to come. Our thoughts are with members and workers who have been impacted by this devasting loss.”
The clubhouse underwent extensive renovations two years ago, according to the city's mayor.
The current one opened in 1969, but the original clubhouse was completed between 1917 and 1918 and was also lost to a fire in 1924, according to the club's website.
Departments from across the Grosse Pointes as well as Harper Woods and St. Clair Shores all assisted with the fire, as did the American Red Cross and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Fire Investigation Division, according to the release.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kitchen fire destroys Michigan clubhouse two years after extensive renovations
