Surf Coast Times
Tuesday 22 March 2011
VOL 9. No 12
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Gutted – all that is left after a devastating fire tore through Torquay’s The Rose. Photo: PETER MARSHALL
ROSE
The Rose in blaze on Sunday morning.
Early morning fire destroys historic Torquay function centre
BY ELEANOR WOODS THE FIRE that destroyed the iconic Torquay venue, The Rose, is still under investigation. Thirty firefighters battled the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning, but nothing could be done to save the historic function centre. Owner of the razed establishment, Pier Loren, received a devastating phone call from Police at 9am on Sunday; telling him his business had burnt to the ground.
“My wife and I are in shock,” Loren said. “It is a very, very sad end. Loren, who lives in Ballarat, has owned The Rose, since 1989. He joined police and Country Fire Authority (CFA) members who were examining the scene at 220 Great Ocean Road, one-kilometre south of Torquay, on Sunday. “It was dreadful to see the damage. I never want another day like that,” he said. “This is a very sad time.” Torquay Police Crime Investigation Unit’s
Surf Forecast
Detective Senior Constable, Dale Menzies, said a forensic chemist would continue to investigate the building’s remains to indentify the cause of the fire, which authorities were first alerted to at 4.15am on Sunday. “The fire has totally destroyed the place. It’s pretty much all gone,” Menzies said. “So far we have been unable to establish whether the fire is suspicious or whether it has been caused by some kind of electric fault. “We are hoping to know by Tuesday what the cause of the fire was.”
Torquay CFA acting captain, Lieutenant David Menzel, said there was little that the 30 firefighters who attended the blaze could do to save The Rose. “When we arrived at 4.25am the whole building was totally engulfed,” Menzel said. Four fire units from Torquay, two from Anglesea and one from Belmont worked for two hours to extinguish the fire. “We had a bit of trouble because the roof collapsed and we couldn’t access the centre of the fire and get water on it,” he said. “Luckily, no-one was injured.”
WED 2-3ft+ building W/NW 18° THU 2-4ft windy W 20° FRI 2-4ft+ building W/SW 17° SAT 3-5ft+ building SW 17°
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