San Diego fire investigators are looking into a May 9 fire that destroyed the Mission Bay Boat & Ski Club, forcing the 86-year-old organization to conduct its business from a makeshift “tent city” outdoors.
The fire broke out around 4 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at the club’s headquarters at 2606 North Mission Bay Drive. More than 80 San Diego Fire-Rescue personnel from nine fire engines and five trucks responded to the incident and worked to extinguish the fire.
Because investigators are still combing through the wreckage, Steve Parrott, head of the Mission Bay Boat & Ski Club’s board of directors, said insurance adjusters cannot access the site to estimate financial losses.
Despite the closure of the main building, the club is continuing much of its schedule, or trying to.
“We’re operating,” Parrott said, though he noted the club is temporarily limiting access to members only and asking them not to bring guests while they organize. “We won’t be serving Sunday brunch… but we’re looking at bringing in food trucks or other things like that.”
As for events, Bingo Night, held on the second Thursday of every month, will proceed as scheduled on May 14. A concert featuring Jeremy Laub from Whiskey Ridge is also on the calendar for Friday, May 15. And, the YMCA camp that uses the site is still planning on bringing kids to the club this summer.
While San Diego Fire Department officials initially categorized the blaze as a two-alarm response, Parrott said the department treated it as a much higher alarm fire in hopes of saving the historic structure and the 150 boats that are stored nearby.
“The firefighters were absolutely incredible,” Parrott said. “There were four stations that responded. We had La Jolla, PB, Bay Park. North Park was also here. They literally put their lives at risk… they were inside fighting in zero visibility.”
Parrott said investigators have returned to the site daily this week to focus on a partial roof collapse on the north side, which appears to be the point of origin.
The fire targeted the club’s vital operational areas. The north end, which Parrott described as “unrecognizable,” housed the liquor room, storage, and freezers containing the galley’s food supply.
“The south end, where the galley, bathrooms, office, and equipment storage are, was okay,” Parrott said. “It’s smoke and water damage.”
There is a silver lining for the club, which was founded in 1940 and relocated to its current site in 1965. Parrott believes the original 1940s structure — which was moved to the site during that relocation — sustained the least damage.
Parrott said the board’s chief concern is the 16 hourly employees, including bartenders and office management, who are currently without pay while the building is shuttered.
“With the fire and the galley closed, obviously they’re not getting paid,” Parrott said. “We’re trying to do things we can to help them.”
San Diego’s maritime community has been standing in solidarity with the club.
The Mission Bay Yacht Club and Southwestern Yacht Club are currently working to find temporary shifts for the displaced staff, Parrott said. Additionally, Campland by the Bay has offered its boat wash facilities for club members to use while the club’s utilities are down.
At least 12 local bands that regularly play the venue have offered to perform a charity benefit concert once electricity and water are restored to the site. The club maintains a membership of more than 400 families, many of whom have belonged to the organization for generations.
“I have not heard one complaint,” Parrott said. “We have members here who are now bringing their grandchildren to the club, and they came here with their grandparents. It is a big family, and everybody is coming together.”
