Officials trace source of fire

Fire investigators determined discarded smoking materials were responsible for the fire that leveled nearly 70 percent of the Bloomington Country Club last week.\nPerry Clearcreek Fire Department Captain Joe McWhorter Jr. said "by process of elimination," it was ruled the fire started in the chef's office next to the upstairs kitchen area where someone had been smoking earlier in the night.\nMcWhorter said anything from an ashtray poured into a trash can or a single cigarette could have been responsible, but no specific cause was pinpointed. \nWith the smell of burned ash in the air and structural remains scattered around the premises, employees and club members stood in front of the rubble last week while forensics teams searched for clues as to what caused the fire.\n"It was very sad to watch it burn," one employee said as a group assembled at the back side of the building. \nPiles of charred metal, broken glass and burnt wood were all that remained of the 30-year-old structure.\nMcWhorter said a call went into Monroe County central dispatch shortly after 7:10 p.m. and heavy smoke was showing when dispatch arrived on the scene. \n"Within five to ten minutes (the fire) was breaching the roof," he said.\nThe Country Club was still open for business at the time the fire started. Former IU men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley was inside playing a game of cards when the fire began. Employees who surrounded the remains of the building said Yeagley and a couple of others smelled a fire and started to go upstairs where they were met with a large cloud of smoke.\n"There is major fire damage throughout the building," McWhorter Jr. said. "(There is) heat, smoke and water damage throughout the building. My presumption would be a total loss (of the building)."\nThe clubhouse had reservations booked for the holidays and is currently attempting to help their customers relocate their parties in the coming weeks.\nBut despite their losses, the Country Club hopes to prevail.\n"It is certainly our intention to rebuild," said Craig Fuson, board president, via e-mail Wednesday. "We think that we are obliged, even in the short term, to find a way to offer services to our members to the degree that we can." \n-- Contact city & state editor \nMallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.