Golfers Rescue Women from Fire at Garden of the Gods Club

Colorado AvidGolfer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 13—What began as another enjoyable morning of golf took a dramatic turn for Garden of the Gods Club members Mark Galley and Kevin Reilly.  Just as Galley was preparing to tee off on the second hole of the south course, he noticed a fire on the roof of an adjacent townhouse.  While Reilly advised the pro shop of the situation, Galley contacted 911 and sprang into action.

“I ran up to the house and went to the back door,” Galley explained.  “That’s when I saw two elderly ladies sitting in the house.  I just ripped the door open, went in and kind of calmly—the best I could— told them their roof was on fire.”

When Reilly returned, Galley was still inside the house. Reilly grabbed a garden hose and started using it to fight the growing flames.  “I think, the way the winds were going, if I didn’t put the hose on [the fire], it would have spread,” he said.

Doug Wilson, Garden of the Gods Club’s golf operations manager, arrived at the scene and took over the spraying of the roof until fire crews arrived. Thanks to the heroic efforts of Galley, Reilly, Wilson and local firefighters, the two women escaped from the house fire without injury.

Shortly after the fire, Garden of the Gods Club PGA Director of Golf Gene Gabelmann, spoke with the home’s occupants. “They told me Mark [Galley] was their angel and had saved them,” Gabelmann said.