Fire rips through distinctive Queensland highway hotel

Flames tore through Falvey’s Sundowner Saloon, the bright pink landmark pub on Queensland’s Warrego Highway, leaving significant damage and part of the roof collapsed.

The fire began at about 8:30 a.m. at Haigslea, west of Ipswich, on the main highway between Brisbane and Toowoomba. Emergency crews arrived to find thick black smoke and moved first to confirm that everyone inside had escaped.

Queensland Fire Department Acting Inspector Dan Skellern said carpets and poker machines added to the fire load inside the building. Six fire vehicles and two specialist vehicles attended as crews worked to contain the blaze.

“

They went into action to confirm all occupants were accounted for.

A staff member who tried to fight the fire before firefighters arrived was assessed for smoke inhalation. The fire remained contained to the pub and did not spread to the adjoining bottle shop. A nearby petrol station was evacuated after toxic smoke moved toward it, and its fuel supplies were isolated as a precaution.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control before 11 a.m. The cause had not been determined.

“

We had to allocate significant resources to combat the fire due to the fuel loads internally.