GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING a fire which caused close to €1 million worth of damage to a Co Cork golf club believe the fire was accidental and most likely caused by an electrical fault in a golf buggy.
More than 30 firefighters from Cork city and county spent several hours on Sunday night and into the early hours of yesterday morning battling the blaze at Muskerry Golf Club near Cloghroe about six miles from Cork city.
The alarm was raised at about 8.45pm on Sunday by a barman tidying up in the clubhouse. He heard a loud bang near where the golf buggies were stored and the fire spread to a building containing the golf shop and an apartment which was empty at the time.
The blaze grew more intense when the fire ignited a mains gas supply, causing the building to become engulfed in flames. Firefighters had to use breathing apparatus and a hydraulic platform.
Four units of Cork City Fire Service along with units of the county service from Ballincollig, Macroom and Mallow managed to contain the blaze until the gas mains supply was shut off. They spent several more hours damping down the building.
Gardaí were called to the scene to assist with crowd control after almost 400 people gathered on the driveway into the club just three miles from Blarney to watch firefighters tackle the blaze.
Garda technical experts began a forensic examination of the scene yesterday.
Supt Con Cadogan, who is heading up the investigation, said that all evidence so far suggests that the fire was caused by an electrical fault while a golf buggy was charging.
Gardaí are awaiting the arrival of a gas expert from the UK today to help establish exactly what happened. However, there was no sign of a break-in or any criminal damage to indicate this was anything other than an accidental fire, said Supt Cadogan.
Muskerry Golf Club, founded in 1907, is one of the oldest golf clubs in Co Cork.
It draws its members not just from surrounding towns and villages like Ballincollig and Blarney but also from Cork city.
