CRIPPLE CREEK - 1896

On April 25, 1896, a lovers' quarrel triggered a conflagration in the Wild West, boom-town of Cripple Creek, Colorado.

Firefighters resorted to using dynamite to topple buildings to check the flames.

In the end, much of the city was gone and thousands were without shelter.

Here is the story from Legends of America:

"Started in one of the many brothels, a dance hall girl named Jennie Larue, got into an argument with her lover and while quarreling, accidentally upset a gasoline stove.

"The wooden frame buildings of the camp quickly ignited and spread from one building to the next.

"Buildings in the fire’s path were blown up in an effort to stop the approaching flames.

"The fire departments of Victor, Florence, Colorado Springs and Denver dashed to the city’s aid but there was little that could be done.

"Four days later, half of the city lay in smoldering ruins, when a second fire alarm went off.

"This fire began in the Portland Hotel on Myers Avenue and was believed to have been deliberately set because other fires were discovered simultaneously in other parts of the city.

"In this second fire, eight blocks of buildings were consumed, six lives were lost and nearly four thousand residents were left homeless.

"When it was all said and done, less than ten buildings were left to mark the site of the city.

"The firebugs who were suspected of setting the second fire were lynched."

GAMEWELL SYSTEM

UPDATED AUGUST 2019

Fire alarm box and board at Denver Fire Museum

In 1876, the City of Denver installed a Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph system, consisting of eight miles of wire, two circuits and 18 alarm boxes.

Initially, the boxes were connected to a huge bell mounted atop a 150-foot tower. By counting the strokes, firefighters located the alarm. By 1890, the Gamewell system been expanded to 55 miles of wire and 95 boxes, and signals were transmitted by wire to Denver's firehouses. The system expanded as Denver grew and remained in service until 1971.

In its Dec. 29, 1906 edition, Fire Engineering reported:

"The fire alarm and police telegraph system of Denver—that of the Gamewell company—has cost over $200,000.

"In August, 1900, it was changed from a gravity battery to a storage battery system charged with 220 volts.

"The system is so arranged that, when any one of the 200 fire alarm boxes is pulled several things happen, the lights in every fire station in Denver arc automatically turned on the horses are automatically hitched, and, while this is going on, the gongs in every fire station, at the fire chiefs’ homes, newspaper offices, police station and many other places, sound the number of the box.

"Fifteen seconds after the pulling of a box, and sometimes sooner, the fire wagons are on the way to the blaze.

"The superintendent of the whole system, David Reed, is an expert electrician, who has had charge of it for over thirteen years."

By the 1940s, Gamewell systems were installed across Colorado: Aspen, Boulder, Canon City, Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins, Golden, Greeley, Idaho Springs, Leadville, Manitou, Ouray, Pueblo, Salida, Sterling and Trinidad.

_____

DENVER: 700 BOXES, 33 CIRCUITS, MILES OF WIRE

Receiver with paper tape

In the 20th Century, the City of Denver was divided into five alarm zones:

1 - Central
2 - Southern
3 - Capital Hill
4 - Eastern
5 - Northern

Each fire alarm telegraph zone was divided into five sectors.

Each alarm box was assigned a four-digit identification number.

For example:

The fire alarm box at the corner of Colfax and Pennsylvania was assigned No. 1374.

"1" - The first digit identified the zone (Central).

"3" - The second digit identified the sector within the zone (Sector 3).

"7" and "4" - The third and four digits were unique to the transmitter of each box (Box 74).

In the 19th Century, when the city was less populated, each fire alarm box was assigned a two-digit identification number.

For example:

The box at 17th and Lawrence under the earlier system was numbered Box 27 and under the later system Box 1221.

SOURCE: Denver Firefighters Museum


___

THE CIRCUIT:

BOX --> HEADQUARTERS --> REPEATER --> FIREHOUSE

Opening the door of an alarm box and pulling the hook would trip a clockwork motor. The motor turned a notched wheel unique to each box. The wheel broke an electrical circuit.

The notches on the wheel were arranged to send a signal identifying the alarm station to fire headquarters, which manually relayed the signal to firehouse receivers via a repeater.

The repeater tapped out the box number over a system of station bells several times. For example, the wheel for Box 27 would have been two notches, a space, and seven notches.

Firehouse bells would tap out the signal 2-7 for Box 27 in repetition, typically four times. A paper tape would also record the signal to verify the box number.

Firefighters would refer to a "running card" to determine in what order they were "due at the box," i.e. first, second, third, etc.

1910-1919

• On March 8, 1910, fire destroyed Griffin Wheel Co. plant in Denver. [Montrose Daily Press, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On May 30, 1910, fire gutted the fourth and fifth floors of the Spratlen-Anderson grocery wholesalers, 1638 Fifteenth St., Denver. "More than a score of firemen and volunteers were overcome by smoke, several having narrow escapes," the Yampa Leader newspaper said in its June 3 edition. The flames broke out in store rooms used by the International Harvester Company. [Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection]
• On Nov. 11, 1910, fire destroyed the McMurty Manufacturing Co. paint plant in Denver. [Aspen Democrat-Times, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection] 
• In March 1911, a boiler explosion at the Minnequa steel plant of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. in Pueblo killed three men and injured five others. The boiler was located in the rod mill. [The New Era of Parker, South Dakota, 3/24/1911]
• Editor's Note: Boilers posed many hazards in late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1911, there were 499 boiler explosions reported in the U.S., accounting for 222 deaths and 416 injuries, according to statistics from the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co. [Journal of The Cleveland Engineering Society, 5/1913]  
• On Sept. 20, 1911, an incendiary fire damaged a macaroni and noodle factory in Denver. [Steamboat Pilot, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On Nov. 14, 1911, flames fed by strong winds struck the White City amusement park at Lakeside, Colorado, outside Denver, destroying the scenic railway and adjoining North Pole attraction. Lakeside's volunteer firefighters were credited with saving the park. The Denver Fire Dept. provided mutual aid. [Aspen Democrat-Times, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]    
•  On Jan. 8, 1912, the Grey Opera House burned in Montrose, Colorado. [operaoldcolo.info]
• On Jan. 19, 1912, dynamite wrecked the Colorado Laundry and Globe Express Company in the business district of Pueblo. [Youngstown Vindicator of Ohio] The laundry was a "non-union plant."
• On Dec. 16, 1912, flames struck a row of wooden frame buildings on Main St. in Brush, Colorado, near the railroad crossing. Mrs. Smalley's restaurant and Schuller & McKee plumbers and tinners were destroyed by flames. The Linden hotel was a total loss owing fire and water damage. Firefighters, under the direction of Chief Stephens, were credited with preventing a wider conflagration. The water supply was considered adequate. The blaze was the first first fire of consequence for Brush since the Southern Hotel.  (Wray Rattler, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection)
• On April 11,1913, fire destroyed the Swift Block in Pueblo. Firefighters used life nets to catch residents jumping from the "furiously" burning building, the Telluride Daily Journal reported. Several people were injured, including Edith Morris (both legs broken falling from fire escape), Eva Morris, Mrs. L.W.Chase and daughter Inez, John Lewis and his wife, W.L. Logan, and Anna Griest (nearly suffocated). The fire, reported at 4 a.m., was thought to be of "incendiary origin." Considered Pueblo's worst fire since National Biscuit Co. building 12 years earlier [Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On Aug. 1, 1914, fire struck the Marrimac and Monitor building at Elitch's Gardens in Denver. Firefighters stopped flames from spreading to the Old Mill dance pavilion and two smaller concessions.  (Middle Park Times, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection)
• On Jan. 26, 1916, a basement fire sent smoke billowing through St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver. Patients left the building via a snow-covered fire escape. Several sisters and firemen were overcome by smoke. [Telluride Daily Journal, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]   
• In May 1916, the Lyric Opera House burned in Cripple Creek, Colorado; discarded cigarette blamed. [operaoldcolo.info]
• On Dec. 17, 1916, a fire at the downtown Inter-Ocean Hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming, killed a family of six and destroyed the building. [Cheyenne Fire Dept.] The father was electrocuted after falling on a power line; the mother and her four sons suffocated. "When Chief E. P. Taylor arrived at the fire he found the flames shooting from the third story windows, the entire third story hall aflame," according to Fire And Water Engineering [Feb. 7, 1917]
• On March 14, 1917, fire destroyed the Chicago & Northwestern Railway warehouse in Casper, Wyoming. The building burned to the ground in 15 minutes. [History of Natrona County, Wyoming, 1888-1922, Alfred James Mokler] 
• On Oct. 17, 1917, fire destroyed the Union Pacific Hotel in Laramie, Wyoming. The walls collapsed. [Loveland Daily Herald, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]  
• 1918: Olathe Opera House burns in Olathe, Colorado.
• On Jan. 14, 1918, in Casper, Wyoming: "Fire broke out in the plant of the Natrona Electric company and the building and machinery was almost wholly destroyed. Many of the business houses in Casper were heated by this plant and they were without heat or light except that which was furnished by the Wyoming Electric company, who connected the wires and heating plant with their system that same day, but the load was so heavy for this system that the stores and all business houses were ordered not to open before 8 o'clock in the morning and close at 5 o'clock in the evening, and use as little light as possible. One light in each residence in town was allowed to be used. Only the hospitals and newspaper offices were allowed to use the current without restriction. The lighting restrictions were lifted in the business district on Feb. 23, but it was a month later before the residence districts were allowed to use more than one light in each house." [History of Natrona County, Wyoming, 1888-1922, Alfred James Mokler]
• On June 18, 1919, the Union Tank Line shops just west of Casper, Wyoming were destroyed by fire. [History of Natrona County, Wyoming, 1888-1922, Alfred James Mokler]
• In October 1919, Engine 4 and Engine 6 collided at 17th and Blake streets, Denver, while responding to an alarm. One of the engines dragged a pedestrian down a sidewalk and into a storefront. Several firemen were injured.

GUMRY HOTEL - 1895

Boiler Explosion, Fire Killed 22

One of Denver's deadliest accidents

By Vinny Del Giudice

On Aug. 19, 1895, a boiler exploded at downtown Denver's Gumry Hotel while the boiler operator was at a saloon.

"Naught but the walls were left intact," the Aspen Weekly Times reported.

A Utah newspaper called it "a gaunt and sinister ruin."

The explosion killed 22 people including Peter Gumry, proprietor.

Newspapers published graphic details of the disaster.

The hotel was located on Lawrence Street between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets.

"The firemen, with light and torch, entered all parts of the hotel," according to a daily quoted by an insurance journal. "Out of the pile of brick, wood and iron below came feeble moans and piteous cries."

James Murphy, trapped in the ruins, pleaded with firemen to amputate his leg. Moments later a wall collapsed and buried Murphy. He died.

M.E. Letson, a dairyman, who waited 10 hours for rescuers to reach him, told a newspaper correspondent of his ordeal:

"You cannot have the slightest idea of my feelings as I lay there in the bottom of the basement with all the ruins on top and around me, hearing the excruciating cries of the dying and those in agony and being almost overcome by the shock, and also soaked with water and almost drowned and fearing that the next minute I would be buried alive."

A newspaper said: "Cries of a babe and the moans of men and women could be heard, but the flames and smoke increased, and finally the voices were all silenced."

Three Denver firemen - P. Gilchrist, J.E. Troy and Louis Maguire - were injured when a wall collapsed and "were almost suffocated to death by smoke and dust," according to a dispatch published in a New Jersey newspaper. [Daily True American of Trenton] The firemen were treated at the county hospital "where it was found they were not seriously injured."

Boiler operator Helmuth Loescher fled Denver and was returned to face investigators.

A coroner's jury determined it was impossible to assign blame, according to October 1895 edition of The Locomotive, a publication of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.

Author Howard Potter Dunham, writing in a 1912 textbook [Google Books archive] entitled "The Business of Insurance," said the boiler contained adequate water.

However, the jury assailed Gumry and his business partner for allowing Loescher to work long hours; censured Loescher for negligence; and criticized the city boiler inspector for lax procedures and standards.

Excerpt of verdict [Chronicling America]:

"From the testimony submitted, which was conflicting, we are unable to fix the responsibility for the disaster upon any one person, but we believe the owners and managers, Peter Gumry and Robert C. Greiner, were blamable for requiring of the engineer sixteen hours' work out of twenty-four - a request far beyond the ability of any man to endure and perform good work; also for employing an engineer whose habits were dissipated and unreliable, and whose experience did not justify them in placing him in such a responsible position, all of which were well known to them.

"We find that the engineer, Helmuth Loescher, had been drinking on the night of the disaster, and further, he had not examined the safety valve to the boiler for two months, proving him unfit to occupy any position where security to life and property depends upon the faithful performance of duty."

Jury members: K. G. Cooper, F. B. Croke, F. E. Edbrooke, Charles W. Babcock, Frank M. Demange and R. W. Speer.

"Walls have been torn down, but three upper floors and an immense square skylight in the roof hangs suspended in midair directly over where the bodies are supposed to be … Firemen, laborers and their superintendents have worked incessantly, but little appears to have been accomplished … Chief of Police Goulding is in receipt of hundreds of letters and telegrams from all over the country making inquiry of the missing" - San Francisco Call [8/21]

"Every engine in the city was called to the scene … The firemen worked with great heroism. The heat was intense, and the smoke blinding. Electric light wires dangling in the alley, and walls tottering to a fall, increased the perils of the situation." - Oswego Daily Times [8/19]

List of Dead:

ROBERT C. GREINER; MRS. ROBERT C. GREINER; LIZZIE LAGER; LOUISE REINHUBER; EMMA MUHLERTHALER; PETER GUMRY; GENERAL CHARLES ADAMS; WILL RICHARDS; JAMES M. MURPHY; MYRON E. HAWLEY; E. W. EDWARDS, all of Denver; FRED HUBBOLD, Lisbon, Iowa; A. M. MUNROE, Colorado Springs; W. J. CORSON, Pueblo; E. F. McCLOSKEY, Cripple Creek; MRS. G. R. WOLFE; RUBY WOLFE, Lincoln, Neb.; BELA L. LORAH, Central City; FERDINAND FRENCH, Central City; GEORGE BURT, Colorado Springs; A. D. DODDS, Albany, N. Y.; ALBERT S. BLAKE, Pueblo

1890-1899

Antlers Hotel, Colorado Springs - 1898 

• On Aug. 4, 1890, an explosion and fire ruined the Denver Fire Brick and Chemical Supply House."The entire front of the building was blown out, and the men passing in front of the store at the time were hurled across the street and badly bruised. The building took fire instantly, and when partially extinguished a body, burned to a crisp and identified as that of the President of the company, Joseph Bosworth, was taken out of the ruins." [Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal]
• On Dec. 27, 1890, arson fires broke out at Cheyenne, Wyoming and destroyed the state's only grain elevator as well as three barns. [New York Times]
• April 22, 1891: Fire at Davis and Criswell Brass Foundry in Denver. [DFD]
• On Nov. 9, 1891, an early morning fire killed four men and 34 horses at the Mansions livery stables at 1816 Lawrence St., Denver. [Warsaw Daily Times of Warsaw, Indiana] The men, employees of the Cable Restaurant, were asleep in rented rooms over the stable.
• Dec. 28, 1891: Fire at Appel & Co. in Denver. [DFD]
• On Jan. 11, 1892, an accidental fire destroyed the McClellan Opera House and spread to other buildings in Georgetown, Colorado. The opera house "burned like tinder, and the flames soon spread to Mrs. Johnson's millinery store, which was totally destroyed, and from there to the Hotel de Paris, which was also burned," The New York Times reported. "The fire was started by Mr. McClellan, who was thawing out frozen water pipes in the opera house." [New York Times Jan. 12, 1892]
• June 10, 1892: Fire at Metropolitan Theater in Denver. [operaoldcolo.info]
• June 11, 1892: Fire at Peoples Theatre in Denver. [DFD]
• On Jan. 5, 1893, a fire that started at the E. A. Halleck Paint, Oil, and Glass Company in Denver spread to other businesses, Including Eaton, Ritchell & Co., Denver Stamping Company, Western Laundry Company and the National Cracker Company. [New York Times] 
• On Jan. 20, 1893, fire struck the Grand Central Hotel at 17th and Wazee streets, Denver. Firemen used ladders to rescue guests. The fire started in an oil stove. [Leadville Chronicle, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection] 
• March 24, 1893: Fire destroyed the Summit Fuel and Feed Co. warehouse in Denver. Firefighters Frank Mahoney and Fred Pierpont were killed when the east wall collapsed into an alley between the warehouse and a number of freight cars. Firefighters Mel Baker and A. Riley were injured. The men were assigned to the central fire station engine company. [Aspen Evening Chronicle, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On Aug. 14, 1893, a general alarm fire destroyed the Crescent flour mill and elevator at Stanton Avenue and Montgomery Street in Denver. [Morning Herald of Baltimore, Maryland] Two firemen were injured. Lieutenant McLean [first name not printed by newspaper] was seriously injured by an explosion in the "dust room." The other, F. Sargeant, driver for Chief Pearsy, suffered a broken arm after being forced from the roof by a hose stream. Every engine in the city was sent to the fire. However, the water supply was inadequate.
• On March 10, 1894, Warren H. Russell, photograph engraver, died in a fire at Dimon & Adams Manufacturing Company in Denver. The cause of death was listed as suffocation. [New York Times, March 11, 1894]
• On March 18, 1894, Denver's Union Deport burned. "It seemed to the spectator of the lurid scene as though it was but the burning of a toy paper house." [The Flume, Fairplay, Colorado] "There were many narrow escapes from death by the firemen, and each new experience of this nature was received with a hush of awe by the spectators and a shout of rejoicing when a huge timber in flames missed the person of some firemen."
• On March 22, 1894, fire destroyed the Champa Furniture Co. building in Denver and the flames spread to the St. James Hotel, which was located across an alley. [New York Times] The walls of the furniture company collapsed in less than an hour and saved the city "from an extended conflagration." The hotel sustained significant damage, including the loss of 12 rooms and damage to 25 others. Eerily, a year later, on March 23, 1895, the St. James Hotel was the scene of a fire that killed four Denver firemen.
• On March, 23, 1895, four Denver firefighters died when a floor collapsed during a fire at the St. James Hotel. "All but one member of Hose Company No. 3 lost their lives. The hose company, excepting the Captain, is composed of colored men. The unfortunate men were groping about in the blinding smoke in the rotunda and the cement floor gave way, precipitating them into the basement, where they were mangled and suffocated." [New York Times]
• On Aug. 19, 1895, a boiler explosion and fire destroyed the Gumry Hotel in downtown Denver. "Naught but the walls were left intact." [Aspen Weekly Times] The explosion killed 22 people including Peter Gumry, proprietor of the hotel. [New York Times] "Every engine in the city was called to the scene … The firemen worked with great heroism. The heat was intense, and the smoke blinding. Electric light wires dangling in the alley, and walls tottering to a fall, increased the perils of the situation." [Oswego Daily Times of New York, Aug. 19, 1895]
• On Aug. 22, 1895, fire swept McPhee McGinnity's planing mill in Denver. [gendisasters.com]
• Oct. 6, 1895: Fire at Cooper and Hagus Furniture Co. in Denver. [DFD]
• Dec. 20, 1895: Fire at Riche-Jacobson Block in Denver. [DFD]
• On April 29, 1896, fire left 1,000 people homeless in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
• July 12, 1896: Fire at Denver Consolidated Electric Co. [DFD]
• 1896: Craig Opera House burned in Craig, Colorado. [operaoldcolo.info]
• June 4, 1897: Fire at Quincy Building in Denver. [DFD]
• June 10, 1897: Fire at Studebaker Carriage Co. in Denver. [DFD]
• 1898: Fire destroyed Grand Junction Milling and Elevator Company in Grand Junction. [Museums of Western Colorado]
• On March 22, 1898, a fire that started at the Wood Side, a hotel, burned for three hours and for a time threatened the eastern end of Colorado Springs. [The New York Times.]
• On Oct. 1, 1898, fire swept downtown Colorado Springs. "A strip four blocks long from north to south, and two blocks wide from east to west, was burned over, and the flames would not have been checked there but for assistance from Denver and Pueblo." [Kansas City Journal] "The Antlers Hotel, one of the largest in the West, the lumber yards and two blocks of business houses were destroyed. The fire started in a pile of rubbish underneath the platform of the Denver & Rio Grande freight depot. Within five minutes it had communicated to freight cars standing at the depot, and it spread so rapidly that it was impossible to move any of the cars. Half a car of powder consigned to G. S. Barnes & Son exploded."
• On Feb. 12, 1899, the Deremer Opera House burned in Pueblo, Colorado. [operaoldcolo.info]
• On March 7, 1899, fire destroyed the "Hungarian" elevators in Denver and "rendered valueless 300,000 bushels of wheat." [New York Times, March 8, 1899] The fire originated in the dust room of the elevator, owned by J.K. Mullen & Co. "The work of the firemen was retarded by the frozen condition of the water plugs," it was reported. Also known as Colorado Milling and Elevator Co. [DFD]
• On Aug. 21, 1899, fire destroyed 14 blocks of Victor, Colorado, leaving the gold mining town's business district in ashes. Firefighters failed to contain the flames even after turning to dynamite to topple buildings, most of which were made of pine timber.
• In 1899, a coal seam fire started near New Castle, Colorado - and has burned underground ever since [waymarking.com]In the 1890s or early 1900s, fire destroyed a potash plant in south Denver. [Denver Public Library digital collection]

1900-1909

Aftermath of Denver Gas and Electric Co. explosion - 1909

• On Jan. 26, 1900, a newspaper reported: "The third of a series of dynamite explosions within the city limits of Leadville, Col., occurred early yesterday morning, wrecking the handsome residence of A. V. Hunter, the millionaire mine-owner, and the home of J. C. Ritchey; adjoining. The first dynamite explosion occurred Sunday night at the Carbonate theater, wrecking the rear of the building. The second occurred in the rear of the court-house, breaking windows. No one has been injured in the explosions. The police are at a loss to ascribe a motive for these outrages. Several suspicious characters have been arrested." [Springfield Republican. Springfield, Massachusetts]
• On Jan. 23, 1900, fire leveled buildings in the center of Ward, Colorado. The next day's Ward Miner newspaper reported: “When the sun rose Thursday morning the burned district looked like a miniature sea dotted with miniature icebergs, the water poured upon the debris having frozen and formed into beautiful encrustations… Not a store, hotel, saloon, restaurant nor a business house of any sort escaped the flames… If the life of the town depended wholly upon the profits that are taken over counter and bar, its destruction would be complete and the little basin in which its business houses once stood might be abandoned for the home of the chipmunk and coyote…” 
• On Jan. 24, 1900, fire destroyed the Town of Lafayette, Colorado.
• On Feb. 8, 1901, fire gutted the Guggenheim Block in Pueblo. The two-story building at Main and Fourth streets was occupied by the Crews-Beggs Dry Good Company. [New York Times, Feb. 9, 1901]
• On Feb. 15, 1906, fire damage at laundry building at city and county hospital in Denver. [Aspen Daily Times.]
• On May 22, 1901, fire destroyed the Eaton-Ritchell Company, a tinware factory and warehouse occupying half a block at 15th and Wynkoop streets in Denver. [New York Times] 
• On Nov. 30, 1901, fire destroyed Denver City Hall. The flames consumed important records and documents. Part of the roof collapsed, injuring Charles Stoll, an employee of the city engineering office. [Daily Republic of Iowa] Four firefighters trapped above the flames were recsued after after tossing a boot toward spectators to attract attention. Earlier in the day, firefighters extinguished two small "incendiary" fires at City Hall. [Denver Firefighters Museum]
• On March 15, 1902, fire heavily damaged the St. Vincent's Orphan asylum in Denver. All children were evacuated and there were no injuries. [Salt Lake Tribune]
• On June 1, 1902, fire destroyed the Schlitz Brewing Co. beer and bottling plant in Pueblo. Firemen contended with high winds.  [Herald Democrat, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection] 
• On May 9, 1903, a building collapsed at 1510-14 Larimer St., Denver. Firemen and policemen dug through the rubble all night. Mrs. Thomas McKernan died at Emergency Hospital of injuries sustained in the collapse. George Hayes was missing and thought to be dead. Injured were Thomas McKernan, E.E. Doan, George Heberlin, S.M. Sorsenson. The building had been undergoing repairs. The front was temporarily supported by large timbers. Michaelson Brothers furnishing goods occupied the ground floor with apartments above.  [Colorado Transcript, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection] 
• On July 29, 1903, a fire and explosion linked to a labor dispute wrecked the transformer house at the Sun and Moon mine in Idaho Springs, Colorado. [The Day, New London, Connecticut, July 30, 1903]
• On Sept. 20, 1904, nitric acid fumes killed four firemen extinguishing a small fire in the engraving department of The Denver Post newspaper. Lieutenant Charles Dolloff was the first to succumb to his injuries. [Durango Democrat.] The others were John Mclade, Frank Lunt and Charles Eymann. About a dozen other firemen were injured by the fumes. Nitric acid, HNO3, is a colorless, fuming chemical that is highly corrosive. [Wikipedia]
• On Aug. 6, 1905, fire destroyed the Mountain Ice Company refrigerating plant in Pueblo. Six firemen were injured. [Castle Rock Journal, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On Feb. 13, 1906, fire struck the Colorado  & Southern railroad shows at Seventh and Water streets in Denver. [DFD]
• On Feb. 14, 1906, fire broke out at the City and County Hospital laundry building in Denver.  Flames had gained considerable headway when discovered and burned through the ceiling. [Aspen Daily Times, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On March 15, 1906, fire struck the Flint-Lomax Electric Manufacturing Company, 14th and Wynkoop streets, Denver. The one-story machinery building measured 100x125 ft. A year or two year earlier, the company lost its plant at 19th and Curtis streets to fire. [Salida Mail, Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection]
• On April 29, 1906, a power surge from a Denver Gas and Electric Light plant started a series of fires that damaged three churches and 28 residences in Denver. [Denver Firefighters Museum]
• On  May 5, 1906, fire destroyed the four-story warehouse of the Denver Transit and Warehouse Company on Wynkoop Street in Denver and "an immense quantity of valuable merchandise." [Weekly Courier, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On Feb 9, 1907, a late night fire broke out at the Club Building on Arapahoe Street, Denver. Flames were confined to the Denver skirt company on the sixth floor of the eight-story building.  "Theatre crowds flocked to the scene which was spectacular to the extreme, seven engines being on duty and the firemen doing valiant work from lofty ladders." the Aspen Daily Times reported. [Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]  
• On April 9, 1907, the Mancos Opera House burned at Mancos, Colorado. [operaoldcolo.info] 
• On April 10, 1907, while chopping a hole in a roof with an ax, a fireman named Bosman accidentally amputated the hand of a fireman named Deutsch at the servants quarters of the Grand Hotel in Durango, Colorado. [Telluride Daily Journal, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• On Aug. 7, 1907, a spectacular fire destroyed the Golden Cycle Mining Company reduction plant in the foothills south of Colorado Springs. [Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane Washington] The mill was described as "the largest cyanide plant in the West." Firemen were handicapped by a lack of water and equipment. Their efforts were described as "heroic." The fire also consumed 37 freight cars. Flames were visible "from all parts" of Colorado Springs.
• On Aug. 10.1907, fire and explosion in Boulder killed volunteer firemen Roy La Favre and Issac O. Wilson. [New York Times, Aug. 11, 1907]
• On Aug. 11, 1907, fire destroyed the C.G. Illings grain elevator, lumber and coal sheds in Julesburg, Colorado. The fire was caused by a spark from a passing locomotive. [Park County Bulletin, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection] 
• On Dec. 25, 1907, fire destroyed the Rio Grande depot at Alamosa, Colorado. [Salida Mail, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]
• 1908: Fire at theater at Manhattan Beach amusement park in Denver. [operaoldcolo.info]
• On Sept. 8, 1908, fire destroyed the Belmont Hotel at 1723 Stout Street in Denver, killing five people. many jumped for their lives. Patrick Treadwell, a visiting fireman from Cripple Creek, Colorado, was credited with helping several people escape. Treadwell "saved at least ten lives by inducing entrapped guests to jump from the upper story windows across a five-foot alley to the roof of an adjoining building and catching them in his arms," according to a dispatch. [New York Times] The hotel was three stories high. At least two of the fatalities, jumped from the hotel.
• On Oct. 21, 1908, fire broke out on the upper level of the Hungarian mills at Seventh and Wazee streets, Denver. Flames were beyond the reach of hose lines and roared out a control an hour after the first alarm was sounded. All of the city's fire apparatus was in use at the height of the blaze. [Herald Democrat, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection] 
• On March 9, 1909, fire destroyed five buildings in the business section of Granada, Colorado, which at the time had no fire apparatus. "For a time the entire city was threatened," a newspaper dispatch said. [Nevada State Journal of Reno] 
• On May 24, 1909, fire damaged the Blanchard Hotel in Denver. The four-story hotel was located at 15th and Welton streets. [Herald Democrat, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]  
• On June 16, 1909, Denver was plunged into darkness when a boiler exploded at the power plant of the Denver Gas and Electric Co. at Sixth and Curtis streets. "So terrific was the explosion that the heavy boiler was thrown high into the air. It crashed through the roof of the plant and completely wrecked the generator and roof and walls," a dispatch said. "The electric lights were cut off for more than two hours and the city was in darkness." [Mansfield Daily Shield of Ohio 6/16/09] Four people were killed immediately. Several others were injured. Ill-fated Boiler No. 17, located on the Curtis street side of the plant, was estimated to have been airborne for 20 seconds, rocketing to an altitude of 1,659 feet. It came to rest 175 feet from its original location. The boiler was being brought back on line after repairs to brickwork ordered by a city inspector. The machine provided 400-horse power, was of water-tube construction and designated a "safety boiler." [The Locomotive, trade publication of Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., 7/1909]
• On July 28, 1909, the La Junta Opera House burned in La Junta, Colorado. [operaoldcolo.info]