A FIRE which tore through a Ballarat CBD building has been deemed non-suspicious by fire investigators.
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The blaze drew a large crowd of Ballarat residents on Thursday night as firefighters battled the fire for around four hours.
The building housed Plaster Fun House and was home to yoga studio, Absolute Yoga.
Many Ballarat residents stopped by the building throughout yesterday afternoon to reminisce about family parties held at the fun house in the past, as firefighters continued to work on hot spots inside the building.
Ballarat City Fire Brigade senior station officer Shane Phillips said the two fire investigators would put the cause of the fire in a report to be released in the coming days.
“The internals of the building, which are burnt, are probably completely destroyed and will probably have to be rebuilt or reassessed,” he said.
“Any fire with adjoining buildings has the potential to spread rapidly.
“We are hoping the outside of the building still has some
sort of integrity.”
The investigators arrived on scene just before 10am yesterday and said it was non-suspicious just after 2pm.
The owner of Plaster Fun House remained on the scene throughout the day.
The fire investigation was temporarily put on hold during the morning after a leaking gas cylinder was discovered.
Mr Phillips said, given the hot spots in the building, the investigation was put on hold until the gas was flared off.
The section of Grenville Street outside the building is expected to be closed throughout the weekend, with barriers erected by the City of Ballarat to ensure residents stay away from the structure, which is not yet safe.
“That will be there until the council inspectors have done a full inspection on the brick walls. The road will be closed until it is deemed it is safe,” Mr Phillips said.
“There is some major traffic alternations in the CBD on the busy weekend that it will be, so just keep clear of the area and don’t enter the boundary fence.”