Firefighters were called to the Oxford Hills Golf and Country Club Monday afternoon to extinguish a fire inside a wall between the cooking grill line in the kitchen and the walk-in coolers.
Oxford Fire Chief Jack LeRoy said a wooden wall separated the two and ‘over the years the fire rating of the wall had broken down.?
As a result, the studs inside the wall were ‘exposed to the continuous heat of the ovens? and became ‘dried out,? the chief said.
The studs then began to smolder, but because the walls were ‘packed with insulation? they didn’t get exposed to enough oxygen to ‘free burn,? LeRoy said.
One stud was severely burned (see photo above), while several others were scortched, according to the chief.
LeRoy said the studs had been smoldering for a couple of days prior to firefighters being called to the scene.
Oxford Hills staff had reported smelling a burning odor on and off in the days leading up to the Monday incident.
LeRoy said it was ‘lucky? that firefighters were able to get to the fire before it became exposed to the air where it could spread.
‘If we hadn’t found it when we did, it would have shown itself within a matter of a couple of hours,? the chief said. ‘It was just waiting for oxygen to burn its way through (the wall).?
LeRoy estimated the fire itself did between $5,000 and $7,000 worth of damage. ‘The wall will have to be replaced,? he said. However, the area behind the grill line will have to be brought up to code, which could push the total cost to $20,000 or more, LeRoy said.
LeRoy said Oxford Hills kitchen has been closed down until the repairs and code upgrades are completed.
‘It’s not safe to operate the cooking area right now,? he said.