The historic Charlton Post Office was destroyed on Sunday after a fire tore through the building forcing the roof to collapse.
The building, a three-bedroom home with a post office at the front was built in 1879. In 1941 the post office section was demolished and remodelled. Up until Sunday it was the town’s current post office.
Charlton Group Officer Phil Ellis was incident controller on Sunday 19 November with support from Charlton Captain Craig Walsh and Wycheproof Lietuentant Laura Harrison. They were responsible for the 11 CFA and FRV units that battled the fire. He said it was devastating.
“It started in the back of the building in the laundry and spread into the roof space,” Phil said.
“We thought we had it contained at the back, but it ran along the roof to the front of the building in about 35 minutes.”
The fire began around 11.30am and by 12.51pm the roof had begun to collapse.
11 CFA units from Wycheproof, Charlton, Swan Hill, Teddywaddy, Wooroonook, Woosang, Yeungroon and Wedderburn attended the fire.
Crews worked hard to extinguish the blaze but were unable to save the Charlton Post Office.
“The baker heard the pop and explosion and tried to put the fire out,” Phil said.
The cause is believed to be a fault in a washing machine in the laundry.
After the fire the local community was looking for the Post Master’s house cat and dog, which have both been found.