Melbourne Racing Club chairman John Kanga counts the cost of Caulfield grandstand fire

MRC chairman John Kanga has vowed to rebuild the Norman Robinson Stand as quickly as possible after fire engulfed part of the Caulfield Racecourse structure on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday’s Caulfield grandstand fire shocked Melbourne Racing Club chairman John Kanga, but he says it could have been much worse.

Fire, that police believe is suspicious, tore through a bar in the Norman Robinson Stand at Caulfield on Tuesday morning, taking 17 fire appliances about 45 minutes to control the blaze.

The heritage Norman Robinson Stand was built in 1960 with timber features contributing to the ferocity of the fire.

Kanga said he feared the worst when he arrived at the scene at about 6.30am.

“When I got here, it was horrific,” Kanga said.

“There were flames coming out of the back of the grandstand and it looked like the (adjoining) Hiskens Stand had gone up as well as the Norman Robinson Stand, but luckily it was contained to the one stand.

“There was only water damage and smoke damage to the Hiskens Stand.”

Damage inside the Caulfield racecourse grandstand after a fire on Tuesday morning. Picture: Supplied/John Kanga

Kanga praised the efforts of Fire Rescue Victoria crews and the Melbourne Racing Club staff for their efforts to minimise the damage.

“The fireys (firefighters) were nothing short of brilliant,” Kanga said

“Our staff were terrific as well, showing their professionalism under pressure to keep the damage to a minimum.

“Each individual person that was responsible for different areas like switching off the mains electricity or turning off the gas line did a great job, like an orchestra working beautifully with the fire brigade and the police.”

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Kanga said a rough estimate suggested the fire did millions of dollars' worth of damage to the two grandstands.

However, he said the MRC would move swiftly to rebuild the area as soon as Victoria Police investigators had completed their probe into the cause of the fire.

“It’s significant but we will rebuild it as soon as possible,” he said.

“As soon as the police have finished their investigation, we’ve got the crews ready to go for the clean-up and we’re working with our insurers to get the building work under way as soon as possible.”

Fire severely damaged a bar in the Norman Robinson Stand at Caulfield. Picture: Supplied/John Kanga

He said the fire was a minor setback to the overall operations of the club, which immediately transferred its scheduled Wednesday twilight meeting to its Mornington track.

Kanga added bookings for the club’s upcoming summer feature meetings, including Blue Diamond Stakes day, would be unaffected but the fire provided another layer to an already busy construction period for the MRC.

“There will be little financial impact from a day-to-day basis but it’s more about rebuilding as quickly as we can,” Kanga said.

“We’re trying to do grandstand refurbishments and the old mounting yard coming back for Blue Diamond day so we’ve got our hands full, but that’s OK, we’ve got the team to do it, and we will.

“It has galvanised our people even further to give everyone the best possible experience in racing.”

Kanga said incoming chief executive Tom Reilly would begin earlier than expected to oversee the club’s hectic period.

Originally published as Melbourne Racing Club chairman John Kanga counts the cost of Caulfield grandstand fire