Historic country hotel burned down amid ‘suspicious’ blaze

An historic Yass hotel burned down overnight in a blaze that has been deemed suspicious by NSW Police.

More than 40 firefighters attended to The Commercial Hotel for over five hours to extinguish the fire which destroyed the pub on Comur Street.

Amongst those at the scene included emergency service staff from FRNSW, Rural Fire Service and ACT Fire and Rescue.

Fire spread quickly throughout the two level hotel, with the first firefighters requesting urgent help as the fire looked to spread to neighbouring properties, one of which included a carpet business. A specialist FRNSW aerial pumping truck came to the scene after the severity of the fire became so intense that it had to be attacked from below and above.

After the fire was finally extinguished an exclusion zone was established out of concern that there could be structural collapses of the outer walls.

The Commercial Hotel originally opened its doors in the 1840s but has sat in poor condition since shutting up shop in 2005.

Yass local Judith Davidson from the Yass District Historical Society told the ABC that the pub had become something of an eyesore in recent years.

“It’s been left to decay for quite a long time, through a series of owners who haven’t seemed to be able to actually get any kind of restoration or redevelopment going for the building,” Davidson said.

Recent renovation plans were underway by Canberra developers Andrew Turnbull and Anothony Barrie after purchasing the hotel in 2021. The pair looked to remove the front verandah as part of renovations.

“The verandah will be replaced and we will take every step to ensure the building’s heritage character is preserved as we prepare to reopen the hotel as a family-friendly pub,” Barrie told the ABC.

“We will also retain and source older materials that will enable us to achieve this.”

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The Commercial Hotel Yass