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Firefighters have been left reeling today after a pub that was doing pretty well in terms of money, burnt to the ground overnight, in what emergency crews describe as a ‘one-percenter’.
Regulars of the Lying Swagman Hotel in Betoota Heights say they can’t understand why the pub, which had pretty sizeable weekly takings from bar, kitchen and pokies, could have been burnt down like this.
“It was a great pub. People actually went there” said Glenn, who lives down the street.
“There is literally no reason why you would want to burn this pub down”
Emergency respondents who arrived at the scene at midnight say that this almost never happens.
“This almost never happens,” said one SES respondent.
“This might actually be an accident. Pubs burn down every day in Australia but very, very few of them aren’t intentionally lit”
The act of burning down a pub is believed to be the safest bet, when dealing with slowing business, as is lying about how much the pub made before it burnt down when talking to insurance companies. This traditional Australian business practice is more commonly known as the ‘Irish Stocktake’
