Le Mémorial Golf Club fire in Shawinigan, Digi Mart USA News (Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec): A large fire has destroyed the buildings of the former Le Mémorial golf club in Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec. A neighbor, former member of parliament and farmer Pierre Giguère, said his daughter alerted him to the smoke, and he saw a massive plume visible for several kilometers.
Giguère said the alarm had already been triggered when he called 911. According to information gathered at the scene, the first emergency call came in at 8:53 a.m.
Using his tractor, he cleared large rocks that were blocking the road so firefighters could reach the clubhouse, which stood several hundred feet away.
By around 9:30 a.m., firefighters were working to contain the blaze. Giguère said he was emotional watching the site burn, noting that he and his neighbors had grown up beside it.
The buildings had been unused since the club closed.
According to Shawinigan spokesperson Frédéric Beaulieu, Sûreté du Québec investigators will visit the site Monday to determine the causes and circumstances of the fire. Beaulieu said the abandoned, unpowered buildings and the intensity of the blaze led firefighters to treat the incident with suspicion, which is why the investigation was handed to the provincial police.
About twenty firefighters, all from the Shawinigan city fire service, fought the blaze. A mechanical excavator was needed to finish the operation.
The property was put up for sale as agricultural land in 2022, when the club’s permanent closure was announced. It is reportedly still owned by Annie Gilbert, who bought it from the Buisson family in 2018.
In 2023, the vacant buildings were damaged by vandals, with damage then estimated at more than $150,000.
Longtime club members gathered to watch as firefighters worked. A former employee, Martin Jacques, and Lise Bourassa, sister of professional golfers Jocelyne and Gilles Bourassa, looked on in dismay.
Bourassa said it was one of the province’s finest golf courses, drawing players from across the region, including New York. Jocelyne Bourassa, who died in 2021, became the first Canadian woman to win an LPGA tournament, in 1973, bringing the club considerable prestige.
Bourassa said that when news of the fire spread on Sunday morning, she received calls from Montreal and New York media seeking her reaction.
