Suspicious fire burns country pub to the ground

A fire that has ripped through a Kyabram pub is being treated by police as suspicious.

Ky West Hotel, a country pub in northern Victoria was bunt to the ground, leaving locals devastated.

The family-run pub was an institution in the region having been built in 1876. The hotel caught fire around midnight on Monday and took 13 CFA vehicles and crews three hours to extinguish.

Unfortunately, they could not control the blaze before the pub burnt down.

No one was inside at the time.

Arson squad detectives were called in on Tuesday to investigate the fire, with police appealing for any information from the public who may have been driving along Graham Road between 11:30pm and 11:45pm on Monday.

Former owner Wayne Cowley who sold the pub three years ago after nine years behind the bar said the pub was an institution.

"It's like a sacred site, really," he said. 

Cowley, along with 200 community members, was at the scene to support the current owners, Matt and Imogen Ford

"All the old blokes that were coming down yesterday really surprised me … some of them got quite teary," Cowley said. 

A 2014 Campaspe Shire Council heritage review found the site had local significance. 

Its first owner was Irishman John Meehan and the pub became a special meeting place for Irish immigrants.

Over the years, it became a central meeting place for local farmers.

"A place to forget about all their problems," Cowley said. 

A community fundraiser has been set up to support the owners.

The future of the pub is yet to be determined.

Jonathan Jackson - 23-3-23