Fire destroys abandoned mental health hospital building near Hobart

Fire crews were called to the original Millbrook Rise building in the early hours of the morning. They say multiple Triple Zero (000) calls were received from people to report the fire. The building has been abandoned for several years. Fire has destroyed a 90-year-old former mental health hospital in Tasmania's south. The original Millbrook Rise building in New Norfolk, which has been abandoned for several years, was engulfed in flames in the early hours of Monday morning. The Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) said it received multiple Triple Zero (000) calls to report the fire on Hobart Road. It said crews from local and surrounding brigades went to the fire, and "specialist firefighting equipment" was sent from Hobart. The fire was reported about 1:30am and was extinguished some hours later. According to local history organisation Willow Court Heritage Site Inc, the Millbrook Rise Psychopathic Hospital opened in February 1934, and it was first used to help those who had returned from war, their families, and then the general public. It became part of the Royal Derwent Hospital until the hospital closed in 2001. Tasmania's Health Department operates the Millbrook Rise Centre for Rehabilitation in other buildings near the now-destroyed building.