Golfer's swing sparks 25-acre California blaze

[Isolder74]

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Golfer's swing sparks 25-acre California blaze

By Jay Busbee

Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.

You can use a golf club for all kinds of non-golfy purposes -- walking stick, fishing rod, club, to name three. And now we can add to that list -- firestarter.

Over the weekend, a golfer's routine swing in the rough at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, Calif., struck a rock. Not so different from the way you play, right? Only this time, the impact caused a spark, and the spark set off a blaze that eventually covered 25 acres, according to the Steven Buck, General Manager of Shady Canyon Golf Course, and required the efforts of 150 Orange County firefighters, writes the Associated Press.

Wow. And I felt bad the time I shanked a ball through the window of a house too close to the fairway. That was nothing compared to this!

The golfer's name is being withheld, which is probably for the best, and no charges are going to be filed. Fortunately, it all could have been much worse. As it was, the blaze required both helicopters and on-the-ground crews.

The conditions were ripe for a blaze, with dry brush from a recent heat wave just waiting for the right spark. Like, say, one caused by metal on rock.

And now, your turn. This is going to inspire a raft of bad Sportscenter-esque "When we say he set the course on fire, he really set the course on fire!" jokes. So let's get ahead of the curve. Best bad golf-and-fire-related pun in the comments wins a round of applause. Go!

Photo credit: Thanks to Zach Bates

Well looks like hitting a golf ball off course is harmless unless the ball hits a chunk of flint out in the woods. Talk about having really really bad luck!

[Highlord Laan]

I would mount that club on my wall, with a plaque reading "Destroyer of Worlds" below it.

[Phantasee]

I wonder if it torched the golf course with it?

Does anyone remember those sports games back in the day? Breakway or something? If you got a breakaway in the hockey one, you turned into a human torch? This guy should get his face on the cover of the next golf one.

[Isolder74]

I would mount that club on my wall, with a plaque reading "Destroyer of Worlds" below it.

It was the ball that started the fire. Would you mount that too if you could actually find it?

[Lord Relvenous]

I would mount that club on my wall, with a plaque reading "Destroyer of Worlds" below it.

It was the ball that started the fire. Would you mount that too if you could actually find it?

It was the impact of the swing on the rock that started the fire, so that'd be the club. Also, a golf ball is not metal, thus not fitting the description of metal on rock.

[Executor32]

No, they definitely said it was the club that hit the rock. He was in the rough, which isn't all nicely landscaped like the fairway and will most probably contain some rocks. There's also the fact that AFAIK plastic hitting a rock won't spark, but metal (like a golf club head) definitely will.

[wautd]

Heh... funny story

no charges are going to be filed

Good for him

[Ritterin Sophia]

Man, that dude must feel like a total dick for something that was entirely outside his realm of control. Poor guy.

[Kanastrous]

I always hope that people in that kind of position don't. Why should he?

[CaiusWickersham]

Because he did end up ruining the course, costing them money to resod the course and re-do the landscaping (how bad was the fire?). That's days the course won't be generating revenue because it's closed. That sort of imposition on other people who did nothing wrong (even if it was accidental) tends to make most people feel guilty. After all, what if it was you getting the short end of the stick?

[Ritterin Sophia]

I always hope that people in that kind of position don't. Why should he?

He shouldn't, but most people will still feel responsible for something totally unforeseeable that happened because of their actions.

[Kanastrous]

I wonder if much of anything is known about the mechanism behind that - I remember we had a thread about some doofus who chose to snuff himself using a commuter train as his suicide weapon, and it was mentioned that train crews can be so affected by that kind of thing that as a matter of policy they're taken off active duty whether they were in any way at fault, or not.

I would like to think that in a situation where I was objectively blameless for damage done, I could brush it off. But not having been there, I don't know.

[J]

He should've used a wood instead of an iron. Then again most woods aren't made of wood nowadays so I'm not sure it would make any difference.

[Captain Seafort]

He should've used a wood instead of an iron. Then again most woods aren't made of wood nowadays so I'm not sure it would make any difference.

They aren't - they're metal. They're also fucking useless at getting the ball out of thick rough, so the thought wouldn't even have crossed his mind.

[Korvan]

I'd be interested in knowing some more details on this. Specifically about his actions immediately following the spark as it would seem there would be a window of opportunity to put out the fire before it got too large.

Years ago, I was involved in an incident where a fire got out of control in a field of dry grass bordering an equally dry forest. On my own, with a lot of running and shoveling, I was just able to get it contained. Now, in my case I did have a shovel to dig a fire break which is a lot more effective than a golf club would be, but my fire started out a hell of a lot bigger than a spark, about 2 metres in diameter. When I was done, I had a 5 metre diameter firebreak that failed and a 10 metre one that held. (the break it self was just over a foot wide, but it formed a circle, 5 and 10 metres in diameter).

Now a huge factor would be the wind. I got so fucking lucky in that it was a still day, as even a slight wind would have easily breached the foot wide breaks I had dug and I sure didn't have time to make them wider. The way I figure it in the golfer's case, either it was a windy day, or he just didn't notice the fire while it was still small, otherwise it could've been stomped out fairly easily.

[Kanastrous]

It's possible with a tiny stray spark to set light to what will become a major fire without even noticing, and if you fail to notice of course you won't be able to put it out in time. Take it from someone who's been there...