Fire engulfs Dover Hotel

A southern Tasmanian community has been left without a local drinking hole after fire devastated the Dover Hotel.

The fire service says the hotel was almost completely destroyed in the blaze which started just after 10pm.

Investigators believe the fire was accidental.

The building was well alight when crews arrived. No-one was at the hotel when the fire started.

Huon Valley Council mayor Robert Armstrong says the hotel is a big part of the community.

"That's a huge blow for the Dover community and the far south area because the Dover Hotel is an icon in the area, it's a meeting place for locals and it's a tourism icon," he said.

Dover accommodation owner Rachael Trueman says tourists rely on the hotel for supplies.

"It's very important in the Dover community, it's a hub for the locals and it's one of our few venues in Dover that tourists rely on for supplies, for eating so its going to have quite an impact on our community."

The Huon Valley Tourism Association's Helen Lindsay says the hotel was tourism icon.

"We're always trying to think of new ways and new innovations get people down to our area, so when something like an iconic hotel burns down that doesn't help," she said.

The hotel was well alight when crews arrived. (Geeveston Fire Brigade)

No-one was at the hotel when the fire started. (Amelia Direen)

The remains of the Dover Hotel the day after the fire. (Audience submitted: Martin Wohlgemuth)

Source: ABC News, 18 April 2013