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The Queensland Fire Department reported the roof and second floor of the pub had collapsed. Photo: Jacob Casha.
An Ayr Fire and Rescue crew responded to a blaze that left an unoccupied, heritage-listed Townsville pub partially collapsed last Friday.
The 125-year-old Great Northern Hotel—which had been closed since 2015—went up in flames at roughly 6am, with firefighters bringing the blaze under control by the afternoon.
The Queensland Fire Department reported the pub’s roof and second floor had collapsed, while Queensland Ambulance Service confirmed two people were taken to hospital in stable conditions.
Queensland Police Service is continuing to investigate the cause of the fire, with Townsville District Detective Inspector David Barron not ruling out suspicious circumstances.
An Ayr Fire and Rescue spokesperson said the station had sent a single fire appliance as part of a “third-alarm response”.
A fire appliance from Ingham also attended the scene.
The spokesperson said off-duty permanent staff backfilled the Ayr station while the crew was in Townsville, later responding to a double-truck rollover in Guthalungra at approximately 2.20pm, where they cleaned up and mitigated a 200-litre diesel spill.
No injuries were reported in the Guthalungra incident.
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