Country club shop building destroyed by blaze

Insurance investigators combed the remains of the Sugar Creek Country Club's shop building on Friday, trying to determine the cause of last Wednesday's blaze that gutted the structure. Luckily, the fire didn't result in any injuries, but the majority of the club's mowing equipment was destroyed.

Greenskeeper Gary Bradford had been working in the shop, but had gone to the main clubhouse to use the phone when the blaze broke out just after 10 a.m. "I don't know what happened -- I went to order some parts and the next thing I know somebody yells that the shop's on fire," he said at the scene.

Piggott firefighters responded at 10:25 a.m. and brought the blaze under control a short time later. They remained on the scene for about an hour and were required to run several lengths of hose to reach the fire's location.

The shop building was one of the more recent additions at the country club, having been built about seven years ago. At last report no dollar amount had been placed on the loss as the staff continued to work to see what equipment can be salvaged. Club officials indicated they may know what caused the blaze sometime in the coming week as they await reports from the investigators.