Fire guts Queenstown pub
It will likely be several months before Speight's Ale House opens again after Sunday morning's blaze.
More than 30 firefighters tackled the fire in the historic downtown building on the corner of Stanley St and Ballarat St.
Pub owner Clark Frew told Lakes Weekly Bulletin yesterday that he had yet to gain access to the building to assess the damage.
But he knows there's fire, smoke and water damage to the kitchen, roof, bar and restaurant.
"I know there's substantial damage, so as for timelines on what happens next, haven't got a clue," Frew says.
"The fire brigade did an absolutely fantastic job to contain it to just our space, and also we were very lucky there was no one in the building itself."
The fire broke out about 6.30am and Frew, who's owned the business for more than 20 years, got the call from building landlord Mike Cooper shortly after 7am.
"I was there not long after that and watched it unfold. It wasn't pleasant."
No one was injured.
Smoke was seen pouring from the windows, doors and roof space at one point, but the flames were relatively limited.
By about 10am, the fire had been brought under control, although crews remained on site checking hotspots.
A fire investigation officer was on the scene on Sunday and Monday, working out how the fire started.
Frew says: "He told me there's three possibilities but he had to go back in today [Monday] to nail it down."
Like most Queenstown businesses, the pub had struggled with staffing post-Covid but was just about back on its feet.
"We were finally all staffed up for trading seven days a week and then this happens.
"We've had offers from several friends in the industry who are happy to take the staff on a short term basis until we come back, and we also have business interruption insurance, so will work through that."
The 1881 listed stone building was used as council offices at one point in it history, but has been occupied by Speight's Ale House since 2000.
