Fire investigators have discovered an electrical fault was responsible for the destruction of the Ky West Hotel, as the current owner, and a former one, of the popular watering hole count the cost of the blaze.
The fire, which is believed to have started shortly after licensee Matt Ford closed the hotel at 8.30pm on Monday, March 20, could have a million-dollar insurance bill.
With a history of 147 years attached to the hotel there has been an outpouring of emotion, not only from former owners of the hotel, but also from those who have enjoyed the confines of the Graham Rd hotel through the years.
Mr Ford, who was still struggling to come to grips with the events of Monday night late last week, took over the hotel in July 2020.
He had been a long-time employee of former owner Wayne Cowley prior to taking on the licence with his wife, Imogen.
Mr Ford worked at a bottle shop and then as a mechanic while he was working at the pub as a second job.
The Fords, who have three children, had continued the expansion of the hotel’s services and popularity after Mr Cowley had spent nine years operating the unofficial meeting place of Girgarre’s sporting clubs and the district’s farming community.
Mr Cowley, who purchased the hotel in 2011, was standing alongside Mr Ford on Tuesday morning to survey the damage — which was total, destroying the weatherboard building and everything it housed.
In a cruel twist, Mr Ford attended the blaze alongside several long-time friends from the Kyabram CFA, where he has been a member for a number of years.
His look of disbelief on Tuesday morning was shared by Mr Cowley, who was the third-longest owner of the hotel in its recent history.
Mr Cowley shared some of his stories of operating the hotel and his experiences as a decorated Girgarre footballer and cricketer.
“The Ky West pub was where we always did our awards and the meeting point for both the cricket and football club,” he said.
Mr Cowley said the list of owners included several people who had maintained strong connections to the community and several had reached out to him in solidarity after the fire.
“George Heritage had the hotel for three decades, he is the longest owner I know of,” Mr Cowley said.
“He handed it over to Mrs Brown, who had it for a number of years, then a series of owners were in and out of the pub before we came in.”
Well-known Tongala and Kyabram identities Graham and Marlene Topp had the hotel for three years, while other owners were Shane and Di Turner, Brett Hansen, Darren Sellick and Scott Hansen, who had the hotel in partnership with John King.
Mr Cowley said the hotel had “taken off’’ when the Wednesday night Pot and Parmy program was launched.
“We were doing 200 meals, it was crazy. That one night set up the week,” he said.
Mr Cowley said it was not only the Girgarre sports clubs that treated the hotel like a “second home’’, but also the local farmers.
“When the drought was going on, it was a meeting place for people to chat, a bit of respite from the rigours of life on the land,” he said.
Mr Cowley said a series of owners had done significant work on the building, including Mr Sellick, who closed the hotel for three months and did a total renovation.
“I did some renovations to the dining area and Matt put the beer garden on to the side,” Mr Cowley said.
“The past decade the pub has enjoyed a boom. Matt and Imogen have taken it to a new level with their work.”
A Facebook video showing the flames lapping the tops of nearby trees appeared on the Tongala Community Page and was the first many people had heard of the fire.
An insurance assessment was completed early on Tuesday, March 21.
Mr Cowley said he was devastated for the Fords, but also for the loss of a significant sporting memorabilia collection that adorned the walls of the hotel.
“There was about $50,000 worth of memorabilia, which I had collected through the years, hanging on the walls,” he said.
Along with a set of Winx racing silks and commemorative whip were signed football guernseys from Brownlow medallists Robert Harvey, Gary Ablett Jnr, Bob Skilton and Kevin Murray.
“One of my favourites was the Melbourne jumper signed by Jim Stynes. How do you put a price on that [Stynes died in 2012]?” Mr Cowley said.
Mr Cowley said he was fortunate that he had relocated a Bart Cummings memorabilia piece, signed by the 12-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer and by the jockeys that rode his horses to cup glory.
“When Kelvin and Sue (Walsh, his in-laws) reopened the Tongala Pub I sent it in to them,” he said.
Mr Cowley said the tradition of the Ky West Hotel was alive and well, referencing one of the regulars who arrived from Tongala at the hotel every day at 3pm.
“He only drinks light beer, and still has it poured in a seven ounce glass. I actually bought a box of glasses to pretty much cater for him when I had the pub,” he said.
Mr Cowley said there were several stories like that where a void would now exist in the lives of the pub’s “regulars’’.
Also hanging on a wall of the hotel was a large photograph of long-time publican George Heritage, which may be one of very few records of the former innkeeper.
“There was also a big old picture of the Koyuga football team. I am guessing there wouldn’t be many of those around,” he said.
“Nothing has been salvaged.”
Mr Cowley said Mr Ford, because of a big weekend of business, had completely restocked the hotel on Monday.
Fortunately, however, there was always only minimal cash kept on the premises.
Mr Cowley said his discussions with Mr Ford had indicated it was too early to make a decision on whether to rebuild the hotel.
“He is just devastated and is not up for making decisions like that just yet,” he said.