By Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
A fire that is believed to have started on a roof, caused an undetermined amount of damage to Indianwood Country Club last week.
Upon arrival, Orion Township Fire Department crews found smoke and fire coming from the West side of building. Neighboring fire departments were asked to also respond for extra firefighters and help in establishing a water supply.
According to Orion Township Fire Chief Robert Smith, Indianwood Country Club is not connected to the township’s water supply as management elected to use with their water system, which utilizes a well.
“We had poor water pressures in the beginning because the system is not connected to the township water supply,” he said. “This system has been in existence before the township had water mains in that area.
Once Oxford Fire Department arrived, crews were able to stretch supply hose from the road to a township fire hydrant which, according to Chief Smith, gave them ample pressure.
Departments from Brandon, Independence, and Oakland were summoned because of the time of day and in case the fire became worse. Because the fire happened during the week and in the middle of the day at about 1 p.m. many of the on-call firefighters were at their day jobs. Considering the age and construction of the building, Smith said extra resources were needed in case the fire intensified.
“Because of the difficulty and challenges to get to all sides of the building and the fact that we had to rely on more than one water source made it imperative that we had enough assistance,” Smith said. “Because of the location we had to stretch hose lines through the building to get to the back portion but if the fire was any worse we may not have been able to commit people to conduct this type of strategy.”
The fire damage was limited to the roof area but other areas sustained water damage. The Review attempted to contact the owners of Indianwood but they didn’t return phone calls.
Smith says it’s not known as to what caused the fire. It is being investigated by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.
This is not the first fire in Indianwood’s history. On Easter Sunday in 1928, three years after the golf course’s building was finished, a fire destroyed the main dining room and kitchen causing $25,000 in damage, according Indianwood’s website.
“This is a historic building in Orion Township and I would like to say that the men and women of all departments involved gave it their all to make sure the damage was minimal,” Smith said.