South Ottawa curling club vows to rebuild after 'heartbreaking' fire

A south Ottawa curling club is vowing to rebuild and reopen in time for next season after their building was gutted last month by a devastating kitchen fire.

Fire crews were dispatched to the Carleton Heights Curling Club around 1:30 a.m. on April 24 after several alarms inside went off.

When firefighters got there, smoke was pouring from the front door, according to an Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) release that same day.

It ended up taking two hours to bring the fire under control, OFS said. While no one was inside at the time, the kitchen and bar area were seriously damaged by the flames, and the efforts to extinguish them flooded part of the club's basement.

OFS later deemed the fire to be an accident.

"The heat was so intense that it blew out all of the windows into the ice shed. For hours, smoke was pouring in here — smoke and debris," said club past president Ryan Wright, standing on the former playing surface Wednesday.

Wright rushed to the scene when the fire broke out, watching as "60 to 70 firefighters" did what they could to save the facility.

The next morning, he had to email the club's roughly 450 members, letting them know what had happened and telling them the season — which was in the middle of the year-end championships — was abruptly over.

"I'm not going to lie, I was a little misty-eyed," Wright said. "It's hard to say, 'Sorry, our season's done, and we have a lot of hard work ahead.'"

'A kick in the gut'

That work includes rebuilding the kitchen and lounge area, ripping out the ceiling and drywall in the ice shed and addressing the waterlogged locker rooms in the basement, said current president Kevin Ferguson.

"Seeing it all destroyed and knowing we have to start all over again, it's really a kick in the gut," said Ferguson, who's been curling at Carleton Heights since 1992.

The structural repairs are covered by insurance, but the club has launched a fundraising campaign to replace various "bits and pieces" including charred tables and chairs, damaged bar equipment, melted television sets and so on, Ferguson said.

Luckily, the fire spared the club's ice-making equipment. Ferguson said their contractors have informed them that if they can start work by June, the club could reopen by Halloween.

By prioritizing the ice surface, followed by the locker rooms and finally the lounge and kitchen, Wright is guardedly optimistic they'll be able to curl in the fall.

"It's heartbreaking. We are going to rebuild. We are definitely going to reopen," he said, adding that they're aiming to raise $100,000 over 100 days.

"The club membership is strong. Everybody is so passionate — not just in our club, but in the curling community in general," he said. "We're strong. We're hurt, but we're strong."