View source for Fires




==[[11 Dec 1880]]==
Park street, Union Hotel and nearby

==[[16 Dec 1880]]==
Millers Restaurant and nearby

==[[6 Jan 1882]]==
Park street, Kitty Hardiman's and nearby

==[[22 Jul 1883]]==
Main street, 6th towards 5th, south side
Miles City's first big fire was the [[Cosmopolitan fire]] probably set in retribution to the "hanging" of Rigney.

==[[23 Oct 1883]]==
Park street, Main to Bridge

==[[2 Jun 1884]]==
1 am Monday morning, a fire broke out in the home of Mrs. Sarah McCanna at Third and Main. Discovered by a soldier and Gus Malden, who raised the alarm. The upper floor rooms had light cloth lining the walls instead of plaster and the house went up quickly. The night watchman and deputy sheriffs Conley and Zahl had been at the RR depot waiting to arrest someone on the incoming train, but on hearing the yelling, ran to the fire, firing off the 2 shots that indicated a fire. The wind was blowing across Main (northward) so only the back of the adjoining house received extra damage, about $100 worth. Using only pumps and buckets, the citizenry turned out and saved as much furniture as they could and the house being unable to save the house, worked to save the remaining structures to the west, towards the river. Mrs. McCanna only discovered the fire by seeing its reflection. The fire started in an upstairs room and came down the chimney. Soon she was overcome with smoke and was only able to escape with the help of neighbors. The house was seven years old and one of the oldest ones in town, having been dismantled from its original site in old Milestown and moved here in 1877. It was old fashioned but comfortable and estimated to be worth about $1000, and was mostly covered by insurance. The adjacent building was owned by Chinese laundryman Gee Lee. They emptied their building and doused it with water. The damaged laundry was "bad" but "as Sunday was past the stock of washing on hand was light". A keg of powder was placed in the laundry building to blow it up if needed, but the wind changed and they didn't have to use it. Michael (often referred to as "B. McCanna"), who lived in the second house from his mother's burning building, was carrying valuables from his house, including an incubator and a packaged mixture of dynamite and giant powder which he stacked near the barn. A spark ignited the package, blowing the end out of the incubator, scattering chickens and eggs all over and causing the crowd to fall back. (One separate reference has his house around the corner on 4th, between Main and Pleasant, two houses away from his mother's.)

==[[17 Mar 1885]]==
A fire broke out in the 2 story building on Main near Fourth Street, the front of which was Toy Siug's laundry. A multitude of alarm shots brought a large crowd who rescued belongings and tried to put the fire out. Apparently, between the flames and the ignited keg of gunpowder, the buildings on each side were also destroyed, a small house to the west and Mrs. McCanna's house on the corner of Main and Fourth. Her house was valued at $600 and was insured. Total damage estimated at $1200 - $1500. 

==[[8 May 1885]]==
Main, 6th to 7th, mostly north side

==[[23 May 1885]]==
Main, 5th to 6th, north side

==[[30 Apr 1886]]==
Main street, 8th towards 7th, south side

[[29 Apr 1886]] A fire started in the back of [[W. A. Burleigh, Jr.]]'s building about 9:30 pm. The usual gunshots, people come running and try to save contents. A strong south wind fanned the flames, driving the into the center of the building before much could be removed. There were two carloads of hay where the fire started and a thick smoke was created which made it difficult to work around until the main building began to burn and it cleared away. Soon flames were threatening buildings across the street, which the townsfolk labored to keep doused. About 200 were emptying the buildings next to Burleigh's. The water wagon arrived and supplied dozens of buckets. The Chinese laundry was dynamited as one of the other buildings began to catch fire. Soon it was all over. Losses included Burleigh's building ($9-10,000; Insured: bldg $1500, stock $4100, fixtures $1000, total $6600), [[Theodore Bruback]]'s restaurant (Insured: $1500) and [[Mr. Anderson]]'s houses ($800). No idea how it started, no source known. A boy walking by raised the first alarm. Judge Stahle lived in one of Anderson's houses and he lost $500 worth of furniture.

From the corner of south Main and 8th (Burleigh's building) the fire took out eastward: Bruback's restaurant/dwelling, Anderson's house (Judge Staehle) and Anderson himself, the Chinese laundry. A lamp in [[Abe LeRoy]]'s store exploded as he entered and he quickly got it outside, burning his hands, but saving the building. W. L. Lansing had his office in Burleigh's store and he lost six months of coal accounts.

==[[7 Aug 1886]]==
Main street, 7th towards 6th, south side, down west side of 7th and down east side of 6th (Graham block)

A little past 1 am, the alarm was raised. Stated in the rear of the building occupied by Cotter & Kennedy's saloon, which had closed before the fire started. (next day: Started in the old 3-story building owned by the Graham estate, unoccupied and unconnected with either of the two other buildings which backed up against it.) Within 2 hours the fire had done its work. Buildings across the street were threatened, but were saved by dousings of water.

Gallagher's fire proof building on the corner (7th and Main) suffered only minor damage to the cornice and its porch burned. Down the street, the Stock Growers bank had only minor damage to the cornice and some windows. The fire was stopped at B. Ullman's residence on 6th.
Buildings lost: C. W. Seyde, real estate and insurance; unoccupied building owned by P. Gallagher; P. Dugan, saloon; Seips' barber shop; unoccupied building owned by L. Payette; Konrad Schmid, dwelling and harness shop; Mrs. Brown, ice cream saloon; Cotter & Kennedy, saloon; James Coleman, saloon; Owen Doud, saloon and lodging house; On 6th street: Annie Turner, restaurant; Eva Field, maison de joie; Su Wah, Chinese laundry; Emma Marshall, maison de joie. In the alley between 6th & 7th streets, two buildings, one occupied as a dwelling by Ed Creeley and the other used as a warehouse by by Heavener. 

{|
| ||Loss||Insurance
|-
|P. H. Gallagher||$4000||$2500
|-
|Schmalsle & Ullman||$1500||$1000
|-
|Maj. E. Butler||$1800||$1280
|-
|W. F. Schmalsle||$4500||$3700
|-
|James Coleman||$2000||$1600
|-
|H. White||$500|| - 
|-
|Cotter & Kennedy||$1500||$1800
|-
|Mrs C. Brown||$300|| - 
|-
|Konrad Schmid||$4000||$3500
|-
|Seips Bros||$1000|| - 
|-
|P. Dugan||$300||$300
|-
|Heavener||$2000||$1000
|-
|C. W. Seyde||$200||$200
|-
|L. Payette||$400||$400
|-
|Connie Huffman||$1000||$2500
|-
|Chas. Brown||$900||$750
|-
|Owen Doud||$400|| - 
|-
|Graham estate||$4000||$3500
|-
|George Silverberg||$1500||$1410
|-
|E. Marshall|| - ||$1100

==[[14 Dec 1887]]==
[[Fires|Fire]] breaks out at 6 am in [[Charlie Can]]'s wash house opposite the office of the [[Yellowstone Journal]] on Main street. The Chinese residents were all asleep and the source was thought to be from a stove in the annex. The wind was strong from the west so the frame building six feet to the west, owned by Anderson, was unharmed. Sparks threatened the roofs of buildings across the street, but men used hoses attached to the steam pump to protect them from the roof of the YJ. The laundry was a complete loss, but its value was small, being quite old. Owned by [[Major Logan, erected in 1879, it was the public school in 1882 and has been rented to variety of businesses. The workers saved as much laundry as they could.