Fires were a hazard everywhere, but in the early days of Laramie, the best one could do was let things burn and hope they did not spread. Eventually, a volunteer Fire Department was formed and a bucket brigade was put into place to alleviate spreading disaster.

After fires in 1871 and a fire at the Territorial Prison in 1872, the Laramie Fire Department was formally organized in August of 1875 with the initial firehouse located at what is now the corner of 3rd and Custer.

Learn more about the Laramie Fire Department and the fires that have affected Wyoming. 

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Fires were a hazard everywhere, but in the early days of Laramie, the best one could do was let things burn and hope they did not spread. Eventually, a volunteer fire department was formed and a bucket brigade was put into place to alleviate spreading disaster.

After fires in 1871 and a fire at the Territorial Prison in 1872, the Laramie Fire Department was formally organized in August of 1875 with the initial firehouse located at what is now the corner of 3rd and Custer.

Learn more about the Laramie Fire Department and the fires that have affected Laramie.

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The Union Pacific Rolling Mill was constructed in 1875 to “re-roll” old railroad rails and other metals. The mill employed approximately 100 people, and its presence might have been the springboard for further industrial development in Albany County until it burned down in 1910.

The Boomerang reported that a spark from a westbound locomotive caused the fire, while the Republican indicated that the fire started in one of the stacks. Within minutes, the building’s roof collapsed. The first fireplug the hose company connected to was dry. By the time a connection was made to another plug, the fire was hopelessly out of control.

Learn more about the fires that have affected Laramie and Wyoming. 

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Remains from the Rolling Mills Fire.

What was supposed to transform Laramie into the “Pittsburgh of the West” went up in smoke and was never rebuilt. The Union Pacific Rolling Mill was constructed in 1875 to “re-roll” old railroad rails and other metals. The mill employed approximately 100 people, and its presence might have been the springboard for further industrial development in Albany County until it burned down in 1910.

The Boomerang reported that a spark from a westbound locomotive caused the fire, while the Republican indicated that the fire started in one of the stacks. Within minutes, the building’s roof collapsed. The first fireplug the hose company connected to was dry. By the time a connection was made to another plug, the fire was hopelessly out of control.

Learn more about the fires that have affected Laramie, Wyoming.

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In 1895, August Trabing’s Grocery Store burned to the ground, causing major financial trouble for the Trabing company and its family members.

The Trabing Brothers, Gus and Charles, seemed to have bad luck where their stores were concerned. Before the grocery store in Laramie, the pair owned a store in Johnson County that was robbed, some say by the Big Nose George Gang. Another store maintained by Charles in Medicine Bow was also robbed and burned to the ground.

Learn more about the fires that have affected Laramie and Wyoming. 

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On May 16, 1907, patrons of the Kuster Hotel observed flames coming from Peterson’s Tailor shop. The Laramie Fire Department was called and the call box at the corner of Thornburg and 2nd Street was activated. Although, the fire department arrived within a few short minutes, the fire was shortly out of control.

Headlines in the next day’s Daily Boomerang indicated the scope of the disaster: the fire extended from Thornburg north to University and from 2nd Street to the alley. Among the businesses destroyed were Kingford’s Cigar Store, Peterson’s Tailor Shop, Eggleston’s cigar store, Miller’s jewelry store, Carter’s jewelry, the Home Restaurant and the Daily Boomerang office and job room.

The Daily Boomerang noted that the monetary damage was not as great as first imagined when reporters where observing the flames approaching their offices.

Learn more about the fires that affected Laramie and Wyoming. 

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Union Pacific Railroad Depot & Hotel Fire — October 1917

Many towns on the plains were built as the railroad progressed, but few grew to be as large and important as Laramie. It makes sense, then, that the center of the city would be the Union Pacific Railroad depot.

The original depot, located in the northern area of town on 3rd Street  eventually expanded to include a hotel. When a fire swept through it, a new depot was built on Second Avenue near Garfield. With the advent of the automobile, passenger train travel diminished. Today, the depot is open to the public as a museum dedicated to those early railroad days.

Learn more about the fires that have affected Laramie and Wyoming. 

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Wilson Livery stables burning.

A livery yard or livery stable was a stable where horse owners paid a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses.

Learn more about the fires that have affected Laramie, Wyoming.

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