The fire broke out in the popular Gilbert St shop around 10pm after the owners had locked up for the night.
The Torquay Fire Brigade was alerted by pager after a friend of the owners who had been using the ATM across the road spotted smoke and flames coming from the shop and rang 000.
Torquay Pumper, Tanker 1,2,3 and slip-on attended along with Belmont Pumper and Geelong City's Platform, but the shop, an icon in Torquay after about five decades of service, couldn't be saved.
Energy Safe Victoria investigated the fire after police guarded the premises throughout Friday night.
It appears that the fire almost certainly had been caused by an electrical fault in one of the vats.
Energy Safe Victoria took away some electrical components from the vat for further examination. The thermostat appears to have blown, causing the vat to heat, and with no thermostat to turn it off, got to boiling point, splashed over the top and caught fire.
It was a fire just like we trained for in training at Fiskville.
There was some smoke damage in the next-door boutique but juice shop on the other side was undamaged. It looks like many Torquay locals will need to find another place for their Friday fish and chips, yours truly included.
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