The Conargo Pub licensee watched and wept as his business and residence fell in flames last night.
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Publican and licensee Anthony Surace closed the pub at 9pm last night 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.
The famous facade remains but it now masks rubble and smouldering embers in front an iconic meeting place once stood.
"Everything I've got is gone," Mr Surace said.
"I know I can rebuild the pub but all my personal stuff was in there too."
In addition to personal items, clothing and furniture lost from his residence at the back of the hotel, Mr Surace said countless amounts of priceless memorabilia lined the walls of the hotel, all of which is now gone.
Mr Surace considers himself lucky that he was not in the building when it burned as bars across the windows would have prevented a quick escape.
"If I had of fallen asleep I wouldn't have been able to get out in time," he said.
It was a heartbreaking scene for those who are familiar with the pub and its history 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.
A Facebook page established within hours of the fire's outbreak to assist in the rebuild and clean up of the rubble is indicative of the support Conargo Pub employees have received in the past 24 hours.
Tracey Cicero and her husband Nathan live next door to the pub and own shares in the kitchen.
They were among the first residents on the scene who attempted to fight the blaze with hoses and fire extinguishers.
"The guy next door to us has been drinking at the pub forever," Mrs Cicero said.
"When he came over last night he stood there and burst into tears.
"Conargo Hotel is not just the bricks.
"We are the hub of the community."
But Mrs Cicero said she is thankful for the help that is being offered but also said social media is spreading rumours about how the fire started.
"We don't know what happened, so all stories (on social media) are untrue," she said.
But Mrs Cicero said all is not lost.
The shearing shed, wool press, original units and post office survived the fire and the community has already rallied to bring the pub back.
"We do plan to bring it back to life," she said.
"It's not dead ... although we know that it's not going to happen tomorrow.
"We want to keep the history but we want to make it our own."
A convoy has already been planned for November 29 with cars of people intending to roll into Conargo to clear the site and help rebuild.
Publican and licensee Anthony Surace also intends to have live music and a barbecue to attract community support.
From the outside, it would appear the damage to the Conargo Pub has already been done.
But Rural Fire Service volunteers remained at the scene today to keep watch over the site where fire ripped through the pub last night.
RFS volunteers entered the building every half hour today to douse certain areas with foam that still had smouldering embers.
Chairman of the Conargo Fire Brigade, Colin Bull, was in the first truck on the scene last night.
The RFS received a Triple-0 call and Mr Bull was close enough to check it out at the time.
"The hotel was ablaze and then is just took off," he said.
"We got the hoses out as fast as we could but probably the worst thing was the toxic smoke, it was horrendous."
A total of four tankers attacked the fire from all angles and extinguished the blaze in two to three hours.
The police have established a crime scene and the investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
The hotel's kitchen is closed Monday and Tuesday nights so an obvious cause of the fire is not yet evident.
