Bollon Hotel in southwest Qld burns down after being engulfed by fire

Residents have been left shocked at the fiery destruction of a small Queensland town’s only pub, which was considered the central meeting point for the entire community. SEE THE VIDEO, PHOTOS

The Bollon Hotel west of St George in Queensland's southwest has burned down. Photo from social media.

Residents of a tiny town in southwest Queensland are coming to grips with the loss of the community’s only pub after it was destroyed by a massive fire.

There is not much left of the Bollon Hotel on Main Street in Bollon, about 120km west of St George in the Balonne Shire, following the tragic incident that started on Saturday night.

Emergency services were alerted to the fire about 7.30pm and arrived at the scene to find it completely engulfed in flames.

The Bollon Hotel was destroyed by a massive fire in Queensland's southwest on Saturday, February 22.

All people were accounted for, with firefighters containing the blaze over several hours, with many people praising the actions of auxiliary crews.

A police spokesman said investigations into the cause were ongoing.

The Queensland Fire Department’s investigation unit was heading out to the scene as of this morning.

Writing on the pub’s Facebook page on Saturday night, the venue’s owners said they were “still in shock”.

“We are still in shock and trying to come to terms with it,” they wrote.

“We are waiting to hear what emergency services can determine, but at this stage we are just so very grateful that no one was harmed.

“Police and Fire have asked if everyone can stay well away as the site is very dangerous and asbestos is involved.”

The destruction of the pub has been met with an outpouring of sadness and grief from current and former residents of the town, which at the last census had a population of 174.

Kelly Murchison, whose father Ken “Murcho” Murchison was a well-known community member and property owner in Bollon, said the venue had been the central point for locals for decades.

“My father had a property out there, and during the school holidays I spent with my father, so we’d have birthday parties, get-togethers — everyone would end up at the pub,” she said.

“It’s almost the dead-centre of town, it’s central to everything — the pub was a pivot point.

“There is so much history on the walls that is now gone — it had all the brand marks of locals, and the brand marks of my grandma who is gone now was up on the walls.

“It’s just gone.”

Another piece of history lost in the flames was a framed poem Ms Murchison’s dad wrote in tribute of the pub decades ago when corrugated iron from an old shearer’s shed was installed on the walls.

“Dad whipped that poem up in five minutes, and they put that in a frame in the wall,” she said.

“Once upon a time, that place was a hub for shearers, you’d have entire teams in there.

“It’s a massive historical place, and it’s where lifetime friendships were made.”

The site has been in use as a hotel since the 1800s, with the Bollon Hotel the fourth pub on the land dating back to 1953.

Originally published as Bollon Hotel in southwest Qld burns down after being engulfed by fire