Victory Hotel Fire

Fire authorities sift through Victory hotel ruins

Further checks will be carried out on the fire-ravaged ruins of the Victory Hotel in Brisbane's city centre today to determine if it should be demolished.

Around 700 patrons fled the hotel at around 3am AEST when a blaze broke out in the basement and spread to upper floors.

The walls of the Victory are still standing but it is not known how long they will stay that way.

The fire service says the exterior survived relatively intact.

Fire investigator Brett Finnis says this morning their first job will be to clear parts of the first floor that collapsed into the basement where the fire is believed to have started.

"So we've got to be able to move that material aside before we can determine where did this start, what caused the fire," he said.

He says their risk assessment of the site revealed there is severe damage.

"Part of our normal process to make sure that not only the public but the investigative teams, the police and the like are working in a safe as can be environment," he said.

"At this point it appears the building ... the structure ... has survived reasonably well but of course that is going to be determined further.

Source: ABC News

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