devastating fire in the Oakland Hills that has nearly wiped out the lakeshore Golf course clubhouse in the middle of the night. CTV's Alice Wertz joins us now from Oakland with how the community is responding to that devastating fire. Alice Yes, it's been terrible for some of the patrons who are golfers, have been for years at the golf course. The fire happened overnight oft said it was a good thing this happened in the middle of the night rather than on a windy day. Oakland Fire Department Station 28 responded as soon as the alarm came in. The historic clubhouse fully engulfed the origin thought to be from the kitchen. But the cause of the fire still under investigation. Once was on scene, a second alarm was called over 40 firefighters battled the raging hot flames that destroyed most everything. The hallway our lounge and bar area, as well as our kitchen and cafe, are completely burned. Our pro shop is still okay in terms of the building, but all the merchandise was smoked out. So all that's gone to the original building was built as part of the War Project Act in 1939. This Mediterranean style building built in the 60s. It wasn't just the 19th hole, but a venue for celebrations with a stunning view of the East bay hills just beyond the putting green, the operators say the course itself will stay open dusk to dawn like every day. But the raging fire destroyed the building. Original wood beams charred windows melted. Most of the building will need to be rebuilt from the ground up. Fortunately, no injuries as the clubhouse was closed at midnight. But part of the losses include the office and storage room for the volunteer led Lakeshore Junior Golf Academy. One of the only free youth golf programs in the Bay Area. Dave Killingsworth has been running the program for 20 years, where thousands of students, many underserved, have learned how to golf at this public course in Oakland, we lost almost everything we had computers back there that we used for the kids and had all our data in there. We lost a lot of our records. We lost golf clubs. As a matter of fact, in that room, some of the golf clubs are shaped into you because the fire was so hot. The uniforms we give to the kids, they're gone. What are you going to do? Well we're just going to start over with one of the only par six holes west of the Mississippi. This public golf course holds a lot of memories for many, it's an emotional loss, especially for the locals and those who help with the junior golf Academy. I was shocked and stunned. Here we are . We have nothing to offer any new kids joining me because we don't have any clubs. We don't have any shoes or any of the equipment they would need to even get started. Now Oakland Fire says they're still investigating as to what the cause of the fire was. As for the Junior Golf Academy at Lake Chabot, they're looking to start a GoFundMe page. And if anyone has any good condition, golf equipment for kids, they'd be happy to take it off your hands . Alice Wertz live in Oakland, ktvu fox two news. Yeah, it's a great program that helps so many. Let's hope som
