Digger’s Rest Hotel destroyed by fire
Terrible news for the heritage of Greater Melbourne …
157 years would have had made it one of the oldest hotels in the state.
Historic Diggers Rest Hotel destroyed by fire
Article from: Herald Sun
October 30, 2008 11:20am
A 157-year-old hotel was destroyed by fire north-west of Melbourne overnight and police are treating the blaze as suspicious.
Firefighters were called to The Diggers Rest Hotel, about 30km from Melbourne, just before midnight but there was nothing they could do to save the historic hotel.
Fire Officer Joel Davey said 55 firefighters from surrounding regions fought the blaze for 90 minutes but the two storey 20m-by-60m building could not be saved.
An arson chemist will investigate the fire , which started about 11.30pm last night and caused more than $1 million damage, the Sunbury Leader reports.
It was believed to be deliberately lit.
The historic hotel was unoccupied at the time as it was closed for renovations.
Its owner had been hoping to reopen by Christmas.
Hotel licensee Brett Commisso said he was still in a state of shock.
“I’m still coming to terms with it – I can’t believe it,’’ he said.
“I just got a call from the police to say the hotel’s on fire.
“I went there and opened the door and there was fire coming down the stairs. There was nothing I could do.”
Mr Commisso took over the hotel about a year ago.
He said he had spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” renovating it.
“Because the building’s so old, it just needed a lot of work,” he said.
“We had a few hiccups but we got through them all. It’s now all gone to waste.”
Diggers Rest Fire Brigade Lieutenant Tim Welshe said about 15 local units attended the fire.
He said the building was well alight when firefighters arrived.
“It took us about two hours to get the fire under control,” he said.
“We couldn’t enter the building as it was so structurally unsound, so firefighters wearing BA (breathing apparatus) took up full defensive positions outside the hotel.
“It’s literally the pub with no beer now.”
Detective Sen-Constable Michael McCormack from Melton CIU said police were treating the fire as suspicious.
“Information received from the fire units that attended about the spread of the fire lead police to believe the fire was suspicious,”he said.
“We estimate the damage in excess of $1 million, the building is 157 years old and virtually unrepairable.
“I’m sure it will need to be demolished at some stage.”
