CFA was called to a fire at a heritage-listed building in Main Street, Gembrook, at 6.12am today.
CFA was called to a fire at a heritage-listed building in Main Street, Gembrook, at 6.12am today.
The building, measuring about 40m by 15m, was fully involved when crews arrived.
Sixteen CFA trucks, including a aerial appliance, attended the scene. Firefighters notified and evacuated people from neighbouring properties, and were able to contain the fire to the hotel building.
Operations Manager Don Wilkie said the roof had collapsed at the back half of the building, and firefighters were still fighting the fire externally at 7.45am as the front of the building was still fully involved. The incident was declared under control at 8.17am.
Fire investigators attended the scene during Monday and have determined that the fire started in a clothes dryer in the laundry.
"We urge people to never leave these type of appliances unattended," Operations Manager Wilkie said.