Golf Clubhouse Fire
Damages
This private, gated, award-winning golf community was in the process of building an addition to their 9,000 SF Desert Pavilion Community Center when it sustained fire damage due to arson. We performed the emergency service, demolition, restoration work and incidental framing, bringing the project to the point that their remodeling contractor could take over. Our portion of the work totaled $164,277.45.
Challenges/Creative Solutions
The original remodeling contractor was way behind schedule. Their completion date was just over 30-days away, yet they were still in the framing stages. This created immense pressure on our timeline, as they were looking for ways to decrease their down time and had not anticipated this disruption. Taking care of the fire damage was only making their bad situation even worse.
We needed to gain the trust of management, who were already doubtful due to recent negative experiences with a contractor who was not keeping to the established schedule. To do this, it was essential for us to prove we could make the progress we promised in an expedited fashion. While providing the immediate emergency response, we worked with five different investigators who were trying to determine the cause of the fire, and ultimately identify the arsonist. We boarded up the structure, and also fenced off much of the building to restrict access and protect the crime scene. We began drying the structure, and when cleared to do so, began the demolition/restoration process. We brought in a structural engineer and worked closely with the City Building Department to ensure that our swift progress would be in compliance. In addition, we hired a hygienist for testing, established a protocol, and coordinated that testing with our other activities and time constraints.
Results
Within three weeks of the fire, we were able to turn the project back over to the remodeling contractor to continue their work. We successfully navigated through the City’s inspection process, working with the structural engineer to meet the Building Department requirements. We were able to coordinate all the fire investigators’ inspections to ensure progress continued without disturbing the evidence. Storage containers were set on location and filled with both contents and the building materials that had been staged on-site for installation prior to the fire. This provided the opportunity to evaluate them at a later date and minimize the impact on our restoration service schedule. In the end, management was very complimentary about the work we accomplished, as well as the short time frame we worked within. They told us that they never imagined so much could be accomplished in so little time. Restoring management’s faith in contractors was the most gratifying aspect of this project.
We provided temporary security through boarding up and fencing, emergency clean up, mitigation and structural drying, demolition/clean up, and incidental structural framing to return the jobsite to a condition which allowed the remodeling contractor to resume work. All this was accomplished while coordinating with the structural engineer, industrial hygienist, city building inspectors, and five Cause & Origin Investigators…and in three weeks’ time!