Nearly All the Business Houses Gone.
 
Denver, Aug. 22 - A special from Victor to the Rocky Mountain News says:
 
At 1:15 o'clock yesterday afternoon fire started n a small shack in Paradise Alley, on South Third street. The blaze was insignificant at first, but a high wind was prevailing and the flames threatened the town.
 
The fire department responded promptly, but the flames swept rapidly and in a short time had flared across Third Street to the east, and caught the buildings, which were soon a mass of roaring flames.
 
The fire then spread through the block east to Second Street. It travelled very rapidly up Third Street, on both sides, north to Victor Avenue. On Second Street the fire was soon past control and also reached Victor Avenue. All of the buildings from the corner of Second Street and Victor Avenue and east on Victor up to the corner of Fourth Street and Victor, were within an hour and a half from the time fire began a mass of roaring flames, it each moment gaining additional force.
 
The post office, on the corner of Third and Victor Avenue, caught fire, and the flames then travelled up Third Street, burning all of the buildings on either side as far as the Florence & Cripple Creek railway tracks.
 
Great efforts were made to stop the spread of the flames east from Victor Avenue and Fourth Street, but it was impossible to accomplish this. The water in the hose, which was being handled in different places by the fire department, became exhausted and left the city at the mercy of the flames.
 
Great efforts were made to prevent the fire from reaching beyond Fourth Street, but the heat was so great that it drove everybody away.
 
At 4 o'clock the Hotel Victor caught fire, and was soon enveloped in flames. The employees at the Gold Coin mine shaft house concentrated in force and had a number of streams in operation and it was through that the big building would be saved. The shaft house is situated north of the Hotel Victor a few hundred feet, but at 5 o'clock the heat became so terrible that it drove everybody away and a few moments later the shaft house was also in flames.
 
The new Gold Coin club house, on Diamond Avenue, just across the street from the shaft house, next took fire and was completely ruined.
 
The fire then worked its way up North Fourth Street, burning all the buildings and finally reached the new Midland Terminal railway depot, which was completely destroyed. The fire then caught the new Florence & Cripple Creek depot and it soon melted away.
 
On North Third Street the conflagration travelled across the track and took the Florence & Cripple Creek depot. The big warehouses east of the depot also took fire and burned very rapidly.
 
At one time, about 6 o'clock, it was thought that the splendid Strong mine shaft house and machinery plant were doomed.
 
The high trestle leading from the shaft house over the Florence & Cripple Creek tracks took fire, but by almost superhuman efforts on the part of the Strong mine employees the fire was held at that point where it started on the trestle work.
 
The total area covered by the conflagration will be confined to less than fourteen blocks, which comprises the entire business section of the city.
 
The total estimated loss at this hour is $2,300,000 with $600,000 to $800,000 insurance. Nine-tenths of all the buildings destroyed were wooden and burned with extraordinary rapidity. Most of the buildings were erected five or six years ago, and were as dry as tinder. Prompt measures for relief have been taken. There are probably 1,500 people who are without places of shelter. The mayor, W.J. Donnelly, and members of the city council held a meeting at G.A.R. Hall, on West Victor Avenue, and messages were received offering assistance from Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek, and many other towns in the district.
 
The total number of buildings lost is estimated at 800. The entire section of the city contained within the following boundaries was destroyed:  From Portland Avenue, on the south, to Fifth Street, on the west, and First Street on the east, north to the Midland Terminal railway, a distance of half a mile. The west side of Fifth Street, which contained residence houses, was saved by heroic work by volunteers and the fire department, which kept the flames from spreading into that section of the town. All of the buildings on the west side were badly scorched.