Apollo Bay church fire

Crews work to put out the fire at Apollo Bay's Uniting Church hall

Police are investigating the cause of a fire in Apollo Bay that has destroyed the town's historic Uniting Church hall.

CFA's Apollo Bay brigade was called to the incident at 11.06pm on 14 December, and arrived to find the hall totally involved.

Firefighters immediately set about protecting surrounding properties and took around 40 minutes to extinguish the blaze using Apollo Bay's pumper and two tankers.

The hall was made up of two 100-year-old buildings that had been moved to their current location in the 1950s.

Brigade Captain Colin Coleman praised the work of his firefighters in preventing further losses to neighbouring property.

"I think just about everybody in Apollo Bay has used this hall at one stage or another," he said. "It was a town icon. The hall was used on a daily basis, including by a children's day care group who have lost about $2,500 worth of toys that they had only bought recently."

Photos below courtesy of Apollo Bay Fire Brigade: