Romavilla Winery: Investigations continue after giant blaze burns historic building to the ground
Forensic police have combed the crime scene for evidence to determine the cause of the blaze that destroyed a historic southwest Queensland winery. INVESTIGATION UPDATES:
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Police are continuing to investigate the crime scene of what was once the state’s oldest winery, which has now burned to the ground in suspicious circumstances.
Roma Police officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Duane Frank confirmed on Monday morning that investigations were still ongoing.
“We’ve spoken to a number of witnesses and people living nearby,” Mr Frank said.
“The place has been examined by forensics and those investigations are still ongoing.
“Anyone who has any information that hasn’t spoken to police already, we’re encouraging to come forward.
“Anyone who has CCTV footage or any dashcam footage from near the scene is asked to contact Roma Police.”
Firefighters spent more than three hours trying to bring a major blaze under control on Thursday night.
Emergency services were called to the Romavilla Winery on Northern Road just before 6.40pm on June 22, with officers confirming there were no people inside and no threat to any adjoining structures.
Smoke was still coming off the building at 10am the next morning as police and fire investigators combed the scene for evidence.
Senior Sergeant Frank said the building is “beyond salvageable”.
“It’s still very hot, we’re encouraging people to avoid the area,” he said.
“It’s irreparable, the building is beyond salvageable.
“The fire took hold very quickly, it’s an old building mostly made of timber.
“What’s left on the inside is unknown and up to the owners to decide what can be salvaged.”
Deputy Mayor Geoff McMullen said the fire had left council plans to purchase the property up in the air.
“It’s devastating to see it destroyed, a lot of history is gone,” he said.
“I don’t know what happened there, no one knows yet.
“There was a push for council to purchase it, but it was deferred to the 2024-25 budget and its been put out to the community to decide.
“I don’t know what’ll happen now, from a council point of view. It’s not like it’s a little shed that burnt down.
“A lot of people wanted it saved, but there was bit of division amongst councillors.
“I’m not sure whether council should have been the ones purchasing but if people wanted it to be saved then we would have gone with that.
“The saddest part is that it’s been unoccupied for I think about 15 years and it was only in the last two-three years there’s been talks about council saving. No one else seemed to care before.”
Mayor Tyson Golder issued a statement on Friday morning and called the fire a “tragedy”.
“To lose such an iconic landmark in our region will be felt far and wide,” he said.
“I’m also very grateful that no one was hurt, and I’d like to express my sincere thanks to our first responders who brought the blaze under control and ensured the safety of the Roma community.
“I look forward to seeing the outcome of the investigation.”
A witness who lives two doors away from the winery said the whole building was engulfed in flames 20 minutes after the alarm was first raised.
“Obviously living so close, I was a little concerned the embers were blowing our way and moved our stuff just as a precaution,” she said.
“There were heaps of people that came to see. People were parking on my yard because they couldn’t get a park on the street.
“It’s really sad, because that’s a big part of history that’s no longer there.”
It’s believed the building has been vacant for an extended period.
Multiple posts on social media reported the abandoned winery, the oldest in the state, was fully engulfed in flames with smoke billowing from the structure.
A large crowd gathered to watch the devastating scene, with police shutting down Northern Rd to motorists.
A Roma police officer confirmed the flames were as tall as 15m and twice as high as the building.
The officer said there were three police units and two ambulances on scene.
Police said they would remain at the scene until fire investigators can arrive and work to determine the cause of the fire.
Police are appealing for any person in the area who may have CCTV footage, or who may have seen anyone near the building in the hours before the fire, to contact them.
On Thursday night, A QFES spokeswoman confirmed the fire was still ongoing nearly just before 9.30pm.
She said investigations are now under way, with investigators tasked with determining the cause of the blaze.
“At this stage it’s a bit too early to determine if it’s suspicious or not,” she said.
“We’ve received a line that the fire investigation team is required to attend the scene.
“We’ll know shortly if it’s suspicious and if QPS will investigate it.”
‘IT’S A HUGE HOLE IN HISTORY’
State member for Warrego Ann Leahy said she was absolutely devasted to hear of the loss of the beloved heritage-listed winery.
“It’s really sad, it was an amazing winery inside. It’s a huge hole in history,” she said.
“I live near it, there’s literally a paddock between my house and the winery.
“In there was a post that had all the flood marks on it from the 1800s believe it or not.
“There’s so much history behind the grapevines in this whole sort of area and that building is sort of the icon of that history and losing that building, when you don’t have those impressive structures you tend to lose those things in your history.
“It was really concerning particularly for those residents right beside the winery too because there were embers coming off it and they were actually asked to grab their valuables and get their cars out.”
Ms Leahy said it was disappointing that saving Romavilla Winery and restoring it to its former glory is no longer an option for the community.
“It would be very difficult to bring it back to the original standard,” she said.
“But when you’ve got something there, you can do something with it but when its ashes it‘s a bit hard.
“Those sorts of things are always very attractive, but unfortunately now that option is off the table.”
In May, Maranoa Regional Council engaged in a heated debate as to whether council should purchase the property.
A consultation period on the issue had recently been extended, with many residents voicing their support in seeing the winery resume as a business.
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