A fire destroyed part of the Atlantic Beach & Tennis Club early Tuesday. Sept. 26, 2023. | St. Johns Fire Rescue
Published on September 26, 2023 at 4:46 pm
An early morning fire severely damaged a 32-year-old beach club in St. Augustine.
Investigators have not determined what caused the fire at Bill Brothers’ Atlantic Beach & Tennis Club on Ocean Trace Road.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Multiple 911 calls started coming in at about 1:30 a.m. to the fire department, reporting flames and smoke coming from the club’s poolside building just a block from the beach, St. Johns Fire Rescue spokeswoman Greta Hall said.
Brothers, who lives right behind the club, said he awoke to find flames leaping from parts of his business, then found out that St. Johns Fire Rescue was already there, trying to save it.
“I was in shock,” Brothers told News4Jax, a Jacksonville Today news partner. “It makes you sick to put 32 years into something and have it destroyed in just a few hours. I came over to watch it burn down — something that you’ve worked on and that you love. … But you can’t give up.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Firefighters spent about 90 minutes extinguishing the blaze, which damaged the club’s pool house and weight room. The club has 10 tennis courts next to indoor and outdoor swimming pools, plus two gyms, a steam room and more.
Firefighters arrived to find heavy flames in the main building, and attacked it from the ground and a ladder truck to extinguish the blaze, fire officials said.
No injuries were reported. The county and state fire marshall are investigating the cause. Brothers told News4Jax that he will rebuild.
