With her wedding fast approaching, it was only on Friday that Crabb had been reviewing the “to do” spreadsheet she had set up ahead of the special day and realised there wasn’t much left to tick off.
Then, on Saturday morning, she woke to people asking whether she’d seen what had happened. Now everything is up in the air.
Numerous fire crews worked to douse the building in water.Credit: NSW RFS
“We’re doing some brainstorming. Whether or not we do it, or push things back, [but] at this point it’s hard to do,” she said.
“We’ve already booked a honeymoon [and] have a guest coming from overseas.”
The hardest call was from the venue’s manager, who Crabb said was “distraught”.
Loxley on Bellbird Hill before fire ravaged the property on Friday night. Credit:
“You could just tell how much it means to her. In a way, her reaction sort of confirmed why we wanted to have it there in the first place,” Crabb said.
There were no events happening at the venue during the fire. A 40-year-old man, the son of the property’s owner, was treated for minor burns after trying to extinguish the fire, NSW Police and the Rural Fire Service (RFS) said.
Fire crews were still at the scene on Saturday morning, putting out spot fires sparked by embers.
Specialist fire investigators from NSW Police were at the venue to investigate the cause of the blaze.
RFS inspector James Morris said fire crews were also at the site on Saturday morning to “look for any signs as to how this fire did start”.
“We believe there were a number of personnel on site at the time that this fire did start, predominantly staff,” Morris said. “Some of those staff did try and extinguish that fire but thankfully made it out safely.”
No event was taking place at the venue when the fire occurred. Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
Volunteers from the RFS’s Plumpton Brigade provided water for firefighting from its bulk water tanker.
“Crews were confronted with the added danger of gas bottles venting under intense heat,” the brigade said in a Facebook post.
“We thank our members for responding and acknowledge the efforts of our neighbouring volunteers working tirelessly alongside us under very challenging circumstances.”
The property is 192 years old, dating back to 1833 when former convict William Townsend was granted the site and named it Mount Pleasant.
Hawkesbury City Council deputy mayor Sarah McMahon, who was married at Loxley, told ABC News that the venue was well known and loved by the community.
“It really is very special to so many of us, and our hearts are breaking for the family [of the owners] today,” she said.
“To hear this news last night, we really all did go into shock because it really is an integral part of the fabric of the Hawkesbury … I don’t think yet we’ve quite grasped the consequences of how big a deal this really is, because of how iconic and the history of the building, the destination, is.”
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