With John Liebel, Lindsay Mulcahy, Jake Hanley

On Jan. 15, 1895, Butte was rocked by a huge explosion and a devastating fire in the warehouse district.

Police officer James Steinborn was walking the beat and made the initial call to report the fire from Box 72, on the corner of Utah and Iron streets, at 9:55 p.m.

Fire Chief Angus Cameron and 15 firemen with a hook-and-ladder wagon and a hose wagon responded. Soon after the men responded to the blaze, the fire triggered massive amounts of illegally-stored dynamite to ignite and explode. That instantly killed 13 of the firemen and three of the four fire horses.

In all, the explosion fire killed 58 men along with the three horses and a dog that eventually died of a broken heart. The explosion could be heard 60 miles away in Willow Creek.

While the 1895 disaster was talked about from time to time, and it was the subject of a PBS documentary, it had largely gone forgotten. This Jan. 15, though, a memorial was dedicated outside Butte-Silver Bow’s Uptown fire station.

A group of dedicated people made sure that this disaster will be forgotten no more. John Liebel, Lindsay Mulcahy and Jake Hanley were among that group.

John and Jake are firefighters in Butte, so they have an unspoken connection with the men who lost their lives. Lindsay is the assistant director of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, so she has a passion to preserve history.

Listen in as they talk about their passion for the project and how they are not yet done honoring the 58 victims of the 1895 disaster.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.