Fire damages historic hotel in WA's Goldfields

Firefighters have battled a blaze at a historic hotel in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia's Goldfields.

Authorities say the fire started at the Golden Eagle Hotel on Lane Street around 04:15 am. (local time)

The blaze gutted both levels of the building which is heritage-listed and was established in 1902.

Firefighters were unable to fight the fire from inside the building due to structural damage caused by an earthquake in 2010.

The Fire and Emergency Services Authority's Allen Gale says the hotel has been abandoned since it was damaged in the quake.

"They can't get in too close to the fire so they're fighting it from a distance, some 110 years old that building," he said.

"There'll be a lot of wood in there, a lot of fuel, very dry and of course it will burn for quite some time so I imagine people in Boulder certainly need to just avoid that area."

Mr Gale says the cause of the fire will be investigated.

"The hotel hasn't been occupied for at least two years so I guess we'll be investigating and trying to work out what the cause is once it's all cooled down," he said.

"That's going to take quite some time."

Source: ABC News, 8 May 2012