Fire devastates Wee Jasper Stables Tavern owner

That’s how Adrian King, the owner of the Wee Jasper Stables Tavern, described the grass fire that destroyed the tavern and other properties on Thursday, February 15.

“I was trying to sleep last night, but because it's still fresh, in my head I was going through every corner of the place to realise what was lost.

“The hardest was the photos of my boy when he was only four.

“And the 2000 photos of him growing up – there’s no chance of recovering any of them,” he said.

Mr King, who moved from Sydney into the heritage-listed site only in November 2017, said he wanted to renovate the building to boost tourism.

“I had plans on doing a function centre and a pub. The accommodation section that was part of the renovations is all gone.

A small convenience store was also part of the plans.

He described the fire around 2.30pm yesterday as “taking off quickly”.

When the RFS arrived, he had thought he lost one of his dogs.

“In the black smoke I couldn't see him. But this morning, he was sitting on the burnt steps, sitting quietly for me to open the front door that's no longer there,” Mr King said.

The devastation of losing the tavern comes not long after Mr King lost his mother.

“She was 91 and her photos and items were in one of the cabins that was burnt down,” Mr King said.

Despite the situation, the ex-police officer said he would recover.

“I just need to dust off from today.

“As far as rebuilding the site, that building is heritage listed so I'll be trying to obtain community grants to restore it. That will take time.

“But we're here for a reason and we won't lose over this,” he said.

“I'll restore the place to what it should be and what it was for tourism.”

Mr King thanked the NSW RFS and fellow residents for their support, which included Geoff Kell at Carey’s Cave who donated some clothes this morning.

“It’s a close knit community and it’s a very supportive area.

“So thank you to everyone who has helped in the past couple of days,” he said.

The site had been a popular stop-off point for daytrippers. Its origins were from the 19^th century.

Colin Webeck, one of the Wee Jasper RFS crew members, said they will remain at the site for the next 24 hours.

“We've just got to make sure it won't get away on us again.

“I'm pretty sure it's all blacked out but there may still be risks with small embers,” he said.

Today the crews blacked out the site.

“Today's just about making sure there's no flare ups, especially around mid-afternoon when the wind picks up,” Mr Webeck said.

Chris Berry, acting general manager at Yass Valley Council, said their thoughts were with Mr King.

"This is a very sad time for the community of Wee Jasper to lose such a historic building and asset.

"While the business hadn’t been operational for some time, we hope that the site can be redeveloped in the future," he said.