Hotel fire in Forbes
Published: 10th February 2009
In the early hours of this morning firefighters from Forbes, Parkes, Peak Hill, Orange and the Duty Commander responded to a building fire in Lachlan St, Forbes. Firefighters arrived within eight minutes to find a hotel well alight with the fire burning through the third level roof and quickly spreading to the other levels. Fire crews were faced with a very large and fierce fire and commenced an aggressive fire attack. The fire was burning on all three levels and firefighters were unable to enter the hotel as parts of the building were in danger of collapsing. Crews ensured that neighbouring properties were protected and battled for over two hours to bring the fire under control. Thankfully there was no one staying in the hotel at the time. Firefighters remained on scene throughout the next day to extinguish the deep-seated pockets of fire uncovered by heavy machinery brought in to assist with the clean-up operation. The historic hotel was severely damaged by fire and investigations are continuing into the cause of the fire.