PONTIAC, Mich. — A Feb. 17 fire that destroyed the clubhouse at the historic Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township initially appears accidental and possibly started by maintenance workers using a propane torch on an outdoor patio, authorities said Monday.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, township Fire Chief John LeRoy and Fire Marshal Peter Vlahos met with reporters Thursday and played surveillance video recovered in the water and rubble of the blaze.
"There is still a lot of investigation and interviews to do," said LeRoy. "But this gives us a good idea where this started and went up the wall."
Bouchard said his fire investigation unit will also work to determine or exclude other factors in the fire that did an estimated $80 million in damage. No one was injured in the blaze discovered shortly after 9 a.m. when a pastry chef working out of a kitchen in the basement noticed smoke coming out of a vent and reported a possible fire, evacuating the clubhouse.
"We will be meeting with club officials and insurance companies at the end of this month," Bouchard said. "But the total investigation could take a year."
The video shows a crew working on a cement juncture and sided wall adjoining the patio on the east side of the clubhouse with a propane torch as part of an effort to winterize and seal the area. The video shows workers with a torch and heater apparently noticing something under the siding. In subsequent footage a worker can be seen attempting to spray water into the area with a garden hose.
Later videos shows firefighters swinging axes into the siding and smoke billowing out.
Officials said the video is not time-stamped and the sections shown to reporters were not simultaneous and they could not say how much time elapsed between the activities and the fire department's arrival.
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