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A FIRE investigation unit compete with accelerant detection dog will attend the charred remains of the Nowra Sailing Club on Thursday.
The building was destroyed on Wednesday by fire shortly before 8.30pm.
On arrival NSW Fire Brigade Nowra station officer Glenn Edwards and his crews faced a number of challenges.
The building was fully alight, there was a possible risk there could be fuel or flammable fibreglass boats stored inside. The building was made from materials containing asbestos.
“Thankfully there didn’t appear to be much inside. It was a matter of getting in, knocking the fire down. Surround it and drown it,” Mr Edwards said.
“We had trucks from Shoalhaven, Nowra, Berry and some from RFS at the scene.
“The building is really damaged. I imagine there will be some damage to the wharf under the building too, but it will be easier to see in daylight.
“It was about 12.30pm when we handed the scene over to council,” he said.
A little bit of sailing club history
The Nowra Sailing Club was until after World War II used by Illawarra Steamship Navigation Company to bring goods from Sydney to Nowra and return with farm produce.
It was the company store that sat alongside the Nowra wharf, which was built in the 1880s.
Before river blasting secured a safe navigation passage for steamers all the way to Nowra in 1903, good were offloaded at Greenwell Point then sent by land to Nowra.
As road and rail links were between Nowra and Sydney were improved, reliance on sea transport dwindled. By the mid1940s, the wharf and associated sheds were no longer used to transport goods.
They became home to the Nowra Fishing Coop until 1964 when the Nowra Sailing Club applied for a lease over the building and wharf.