Guests had to be evacuated out of a second-storey window and a young girl briefly went missing when a fire broke out at the Brunswick Hotel in Hobart's CBD early this morning.
Fire crews and volunteers were called in to battle the blaze about 2:00am.
No-one was injured, but a smoke alert has been issued for the city.
A spokesman for the Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) said the hotel was fully alight when firefighters arrived.
"An evacuation immediately took place, with firefighters evacuating some occupants through a second-storey window," the spokesperson said.
"At least 30 firefighters were on scene at the peak of the fire. The fire has been contained to the hotel."
Hotel manager Darren Brown said he was "absolutely devastated" the venue that was starting to get back on its feet after losing customers during the pandemic had now been engulfed in flames.
"We've put everything into that property to try and rebuild post-COVID and just started to get some response … to be woken a bit before 2:00am to find that it was on fire."
He said night managers who lived on site had woken to smoke and helped guests escape, leaving their belongings behind.
Among the guests were a family with young kids, three men who had played a gig the night before and a young couple.
"We couldn't find the young girl [of the couple] for a while. But she was standing on Liverpool Street in nothing but what she went to bed in," Mr Brown said.
He said the facade of the hotel was still standing, but that it was not yet known whether the building was structurally sound.
"To be honest, when I first got here, I thought we'll get this thing saved … [when] there was 30 to 50 foot flames in the air, it was like we're not going to be saving this," he said.
Liverpool Street is closed between Argyle Street and Elizabeth Street.
Police say all businesses on that strip will be closed until further notice due to power interruptions, smoke and the fire investigation.
According to the pub's website, the Brunswick Hotel was built by convicts in 1827 and initially operated as an "illegal grog shop".
It was granted a liquor licence in 1831 and is the second oldest continuously licensed establishment in Australia.
It was badly damaged by fire in 1926, and the facade and parts of the building were rebuilt.
