The Country Club Hotel in Yea has been gutted by fire early this morning (31 August).
CFA was called to the 150-year-old building on High Street shortly after 3.30am, and found the top floor engulfed by flames.
District 12 Operations Officer Justin Dally said it took firefighters around two hours to bring it under control.
“Around 50 firefighters worked to attack the flames on the upper floor externally,” he said.
Yea Fire Brigade Captain Rod Carbis said they couldn’t access the fire until the aerial pumper arrived from Shepparton. Then the Bendigo ladder platform was used to get into the building.
The job was made more difficult after part of the roof began to collapse. However, hard work by crews saved the ground floor, which is the oldest part of the pub, and the plan is to rebuild the pub rather than demolish it.
The pub’s owner was not inside the building overnight, and there were no occupants.
Mr Dally said the impact of the fire will be felt by the Yea community.
“It’s certainly a great loss, something of that age. It’s an iconic building on the main street.”
Eleven trucks attended from Molesworth, Yea, Limestone, Homewood, Murrindindi, Seymour, Shepparton and Alexandra, as well as breathing apparatus support from Bendigo.
A fire investigator will attend the site today to help determine the cause of the blaze.
Author: CFA Media