Victorian fire services are desperately trying to save the clubhouse of the Greg Norman-designed Eastern Golf Club north-east of Melbourne after it caught alight on Monday afternoon.
The devastating blaze, filmed by onlookers and posted to social media, shows thick, black smoke billowing from the site of the state-of-the-art clubhouse in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges. The eight-0year-old clubhouse was described by Clubhouse Architects’ Perrot Lyon Mathieson as, “One of a kind, memorable, trophy building, unique to The Eastern Golf Club.”
Check out this footage of the blaze:
Unconfirmed reports suggest the fire may have been the result of an electrical fault in a cart or buggy storeroom. Police are investigating.
Here’s more footage showing the extent of the blaze from a neighbouring property:
The Eastern’s reigning club champion, Andrew Bayliss, said it was “truly gut-wrenching news” for the club’s staff and members, who were still coming to terms with temporarily losing nine holes to a flooding event after the Yarra River burst its banks recently.
“It’s just terrible news for the club, really difficult news to comprehend right now,” says Bayliss. “I really feel for everyone involved with the club.”
UPDATE: ABC News reports emergency services were called to the scene, and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) confirmed that the building was safely evacuated with up to 30 people escaping harm.
“CFA was called to the scene about 2pm and said around 20 to 30 people were in the building when it was evacuated,” the ABC report reads. “About 25 vehicles and 80 personnel were sent to the scene. Ambulance Victoria said while health crews were on the scene for health monitoring, no patients needed assistance.”
A community advice warning was issued for smoke in the area.
