The fire was the third at the Future Employment Opportunities site since February 2.

Creditors voted to liquidate FEO at a meeting with administrators on Friday. The jobs agency employed about 70 people.

A CFA spokesperson said six fire trucks from the Eaglehawk, Bendigo and Golden Square brigades were called to Market Street about 2.30am on Monday morning.

The blaze, which engulfed the 30m x 20m structure, could not be brought under control until about 3.30am.

Donna Clarke, FEO interim general manager, said the fire had left her “gutted”.

“This is beyond words,” she said. “This has been such a valuable community resource and to see this happen when the organisation is going through difficult times is just gut-wrenching.”

Baseball clubrooms at the nearby Albert Roy Reserve were destroyed by fire early on Thursday in a blaze police said later that day was caused by an electrical fault. 

Early on Saturday police were investigating three fires in Eaglehawk deemed suspicious – one in a baseball club storage container, again at Albert Roy Reserve, a grass fire in Caldwells Road and a fire at FEO.

A fire also occurred at the FEO site early on February 2.

Following the two fires at Albert Roy Reserve, the Bendigo Baseball Association’s “Interim Recovery Committee” has encouraged people to offer any information they have to the police.

“We ask for the whole of the Bendigo community to be vigilant and report any suspicions of who may be responsible for any of the recent fires to police,” a statement says.

The committee has also announced that the 2016 Bendigo baseball season – which has been in doubt – will go ahead.

“(The) Association’s AGM has been relocated to Golden Square Football Club, Wade St at 7.30pm February 10. All baseballers in Bendigo are required to attend this meeting without exception.”