Reduced to rubble

The Sea Lake hotel was reduced to rubble on Thursday.

Excavators demolished the Best Street building following a fire at the site in the early hours of April 3.

The fire caused significant structural damage to the building.

CFA District 18 Operations Officer Mick Sporton said it took around three hours to control the fire, with more than 20 CFA volunteers from Sea Lake and Berriwillock working in dangerous conditions.

“When units arrived the fire was coming out of every door and window,” Mr Sporton said.

“It was too dangerous to get firefighters to go inside, they did an external attack and tried to extinguish it from the outside.”

Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.

Bruce and Robyn Reeves ran the pub for more than a decade in the 1990s.

They moved to Sea Lake in 1994 after previously running a hotel in Hillston, New South Wales.

“Our plan was to run three hotels and then retire,” Ms Reeves said.

However, the family fell in love with the Sea Lake township and have called it home ever since.

“It’s a lovely community, the kids formed friendships and we decided to stay,” Ms Reeves said.

She said many fond memories were created during their time at the hotel.

“My kids all developed a love of cooking in that kitchen,” Ms Reeves said.

To read more about this story, grab a copy of Monday’s Guardian (April 17).