THE Conargo Pub’s licensee watched and wept as his business and home was engulfed in flames on Tuesday night.
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Publican and licensee Anthony Surace closed the pub at 9pm and was driving to a friend’s birthday party when he got the call that his business was on fire.
It took him 20 minutes to return to the pub but by that time it was evident that the structure could not be saved.
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The famous facade remains but it now masks the rubble and smouldering embers where an iconic meeting place once stood.
“Everything I’ve got is gone — I know I can rebuild the pub but all my personal stuff was in there too,” Mr Surace said.
In addition to personal items, clothing and furniture lost from his home at the back of the hotel, Mr Surace said countless amounts of priceless memorabilia lined the walls of the hotel, all of which was now gone.
Mr Surace considers himself lucky that he was not in the building when it burned as the bars that secure the windows would have prevented a quick escape.
“If I had fallen asleep I wouldn’t have been able to get out in time,” he said.
It was a heartbreaking scene for all involved but even in the face of the ruins, Mr Surace would not be defeated.
“This pub has potential after potential, it’s known all over the country,” he said.
