Fire guts historic General Gordon Hotel

 Image supplied

The 80-year-old General Gordon Hotel in Sydenham, in Sydney’s inner-west, has been gutted by a ferocious fire.

The pub was consumed by flames shortly after 1pm on Monday.

The roof of the hotel collapsed.

More than 70 firefighters raced to the burning hotel and established an exclusion zone around the scene.

Authorities are now investigating the possible cause of the devastating incident.

There are suspicions that a spark from welding equipment being used in renovations might have set off the blaze.  The hotel was recently sold for $18.1 million and was under renovation.

Acquired by White & Partners in partnership with JDA Hotels off market in 2017, the group’s website said it planned to reinvent the business to "better match the changing demographics of the area”.

NSW Police however said the cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.

Six people had to be evacuated.

Fire and Rescue NSW Inner West Duty Commander Gary Meagher said the problem was that the pub "had a lot of timber inside".

"It goes up pretty quick," Mr Meagher told the ABC.

"They won't be drinking there for a while."

"Stay away from this area, because these roads will be closed for a while, especially during peak hour," he said.

The blaze saw flames spreading to the roof of a boarding house next door, where several people were evacuated.

There was a total roof collapse and a wall collapse but fortunately, the 20 gas cylinders inside the building did not ignite.

Police officers have been redirecting traffic with Gleeson Avenue closed at Burrows Avenue.

At the same time, trains had been directed to bypass nearby Sydenham Station. However, they had resumed their usual timetable within an hour.

The Gordon Hotel is historically significant and was designed by architect Sidney Warden, who worked on many of Sydney's best-known pubs including The Henson, The Lansdowne Hotel and The Old Clare Hotel.

Leon Gettler - 31st July 2018