Flames engulf huge clubhouse in landmark Lake Norman community, video shows
Flames destroyed the massive clubhouse at one of Lake Norman’s oldest communities early Friday — a scene captured on video by one of the community’s residents.
“We are devastated and ask for your prayers,” Westport Swim & Tennis Club posted on Facebook, saying the cause of the fire is unknown. “We are all in shock.”
Resident Ross Bulla shot video and still photos as firefighters took hoses to the flames in the early morning dark.
“The heat, sounds, and embers were intense,” Bulla wrote under one of his video posts. “(That’s not a cow mooing. That’s a fire truck arriving and lowering a hydraulic ladder rack.).”
The 6,000-square-foot clubhouse featured a large wraparound viewing porch, a pro shop, a beer, wine and snack bar, and a members’ lounge, according to Westport Swim and Tennis Club.
The fire started about 3 a.m. in a storage area under a deck and didn’t appear to have been intentionally set, Lincoln County Fire Marshal Rodney Emmett said in a news release, which didn’t cite a suspected cause.
County spokesman Ronnie Rombs said he was trying to find out Friday afternoon if Emmett’s office knows what might have caused the fire.
East Lincoln, Denver and Huntersville firefighters were dispatched to the fire, along with Lincoln County EMS and Lincoln County sheriff’s investigators, according to the release.
“We are so thankful that no one was in the building and no one is hurt,” the club posted.
Westport is known as Lake Norman’s first planned community, The Charlotte Observer reported in 2015 on the eve of Westport’s 50th anniversary celebration. The lake was only a couple of years old when the first parcels were sold to future residents of the community off N.C. 16.
Westport now has about 750 homes and features an 18-hole golf course, eight lighted clay tennis courts, eight swim lanes and other amenities. Local historians believe 19th-century gold mines are buried beneath some Westport fairways.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 1:28 PM.