Helena fire January 9, 1874, Historic losses.

At 7:00 am, January 9, 1874 fire erupted in the Chinatown district of downtown Helena, Montana. Getting the fire started for the day, the Chinese cook used too much coal oil, causing an explosion and igniting one site of the room. He grabbed a bucket of what he thought was water to dose the flames but it was more of the oil.  Fueled with the additional oil the building was quickly engulfed in flames. Before the fire was stopped it had destroyed most of the city's businesses and 150 homes.

While the destruction of the homes and businesses was devastating, buildings can be rebuilt, after all this was the third time Helena had suffered a great fire and yet she always managed to rise from the ashes.  What could not be replaced were records of the Montana Historical Society which were kept in the law office of Wilbur Fisk Sanders.  Also destroyed were all of the books and record of the Montana Masonic Grand Lodge.  For someone researching early Montana history, the thought of all those early documents going up in flames is heart wrenching.

There was only one casualty of the fire, Konrad Knipper, was trapped in the International Hotel where he was employed.  

Helena's Guardian of the Gulch behind another Helena landmark, the Bluestone House.
The tower was built to after Helena's devastating series of fires to alert the citizens.