A suspicious fire at the Paradise Valley Hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning has forced it to close.
Emergency services were summoned to the Clematis pub around 3.30am, with seven units responding, from Clematis, Bayswater, Emerald, Menzies, Narre Warren East and Selby.
According to crews, the fire was underneath the hotel, in the basement area. A large pile of construction materials was found well alight.
A section of the building was in the process of being redeveloped, having sat unused for two decades, but the blaze damaged plumbing and electrical systems and has severely hampered plans.
Clematis CFA brigade posted that firefighters were able to contain the fire to the basement, but as much as 40 per cent of the hotel was affected by smoke damage.
A spokesperson for Victoria Police said no-one was inside at the time of the fire.
Founded 1903, near the Puffing Billy tourist railway, Paradise offers a large deck and verandas with views of the Dandenong Ranges.
It was purchased in 2019 by a syndicate of locals and Melbourne hotelier Mark Protheroe, who already operated Fitzroy North pub The Recreation and was to also manage operations in Clematis.
The Paradise had been conducting a weekend of ‘Christmas in July’ celebrations and Protheroe and staff closed and left the premises at 1.30am, set to return to a full day of bookings on the Sunday.
Local authorities suggest the fire was deliberately lit sometime between close-up and 3am. It is being treated as suspicious, and an arson chemist attended on Monday.
The owners offer that clean-up and repairs could take as little as about a week, and put a rough cost of $100k on the bill, but they are waiting for official assessment by insurance on the extent of the damage.
A message on the pub’s website laments that it will be “Closed until further notice”.
