PHOTOS: Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the infamous 1974 Main Avenue Fire in downtown Durango that destroyed six buildings and killed two first responders.
The tragic event lives in the minds of Durango’s first responders and helped evolve Durango Fire Protection District’s downtown fire suppression tactics.
At 3:50 a.m. Aug. 24, 1974, a call alerted the Durango Fire Department that Herb Williams Lumber Co. near Camino del Rio was on fire. At 3:55 a.m., another call came in saying The West Building, on East Second Avenue, was also on fire.
But when the Durango Fire Department arrived, firefighters realized both callers were mistaken and the smoke was coming from a fire in the 800 block of Main Avenue that would destroy six historic buildings.