A structure at the Tapatio Springs resort caught fire Monday night, resulting in a total loss to the building at the recently purchased facility.
Kendall County Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Fincke said the spa and fitness center between the children’s and adult pools at the resort is a total loss after it caught fire at about 9 p.m. Monday and burned well into Tuesday morning. The fire was contained to just the one structure, but Fincke said there may be some minor smoke damage to surrounding buildings.
Jonathan Falloon, sales and marketing director for Tapatio Springs, described the fire as a one in a series of unfortunate events considering the country club’s past. However, he noted the club’s resilience and said he believes the golf course will remain open.
“We’re resilient and will be back,” Falloon told The Star. “We’ll meet with ownership to determine our long-term plans, but for now we’re uncertain what that will be. Our hope is to continue to operate, but until we assess the damage we don’t know for sure.”
A letter sent out to the members of the club from Tapatio’s managing director, Caleb DuBose, states both the children’s and adult pools and any immediate surrounding areas will be closed until “further notice.” The two pools are feet away from the spa and fitness center building that was destroyed.
The outside walls of the building didn’t collapse and remain standing, but the contents inside all appeared to burn and not be salvageable.
Several emergency agencies responded to the blaze, including the Boerne Fire Department, Bergheim Volunteer Fire Department, Comfort VFD, Leon Springs VFD, a Kendall County medic unit, the county fire marshal and Kendall County emergency management.
Response to the fire involved several local agencies, with Boerne Fire Chief Ray Hacker saying about 50 emergency personnel made the scene to respond.
“It came in initially as a fire alarm, and as we listened to it, the reports kept getting upgraded,” Hacker said. “So, it went from a fire alarm to an actual fire to fire flames through the roof on arrival. So, it took a lot of personnel, and everything went well. No injuries. So, everybody did an outstanding job. We appreciate everybody’s help.”
Nineteen first responders form the Boerne Fire Department, seven first responders from Bergheim VFD, five personnel from Leon Springs VFD, four Kendall County deputies, two state troopers, rehabilitation support teams from both Bexar County and Bergheim and numerous apparatus – including ladders, fire trucks, squad cars and more – were on the scene Monday night into Tuesday morning working to extinguish the fire.
Hacker said the emergency personnel worked on the scene until about 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, meaning first responders worked for about 14 hours before he said firefighters felt comfortable that the fire and any hotspots were out. Since Tuesday morning, Hacker said there hasn’t been any smoke or any other reports of the fire restarting.
“It was a big scene that just took a lot of time, and we went through a lot of water,” Hacker said. “I’m not sure. Last figure I heard, just from our ladder truck alone, we figured about 300,000 gallons of water, just us. That’s not including Leon Springs and their ladder truck and what we flow through our engines as well.”
Hacker said first responders accessed the fire hydrants on the country club property, which is owned and operated by the Canyon Lake Water Services after its acquisition of Kendall West Utilities last year, and Hacker said the water supply was good.
First responders currently are investigating the cause of the fire, but Fincke and Hacker both confirmed nobody was in the building at the time. Fincke noted the facility is locked at 2 p.m., and no injuries were reported. Fincke said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but he said investigators currently suspect the fire may be linked to some work done on the air conditioning system on the roof of the building. However, this information may change as the investigation continues.
This is the second fire to ravage a structure at the resort in recent years as a 2017 fire took down the former restaurant, leading to the former owners constructing La Cascada Table and Bar.
The resort was purchased earlier this month by the Crescent Hotel and Resort Group, and a deed filed with the Kendall County Clerk shows an LR TAP LLC officially purchasing the property June 2 with European Investment Management Services identified.
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