Fire marked the end of the innocence
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
A different Durango existed in my early youth, a more innocent place, I guess. With fewer fears, and a less complicated understanding of the world. Images recalled are of the circus at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, frosty root beer mugs at the A & W, "The hottest brand going" gas station on the corner, and main street business with a larger-than-life horse on the front of the building. To paraphrase Don Henley, "But, somewhere back there in the dust, That same small town in each of us," is still a fond memory.
At 9:15 a.m. Aug. 24, 1974, onlookers at the intersection of Main Avenue and Ninth Street watch as firefighters battle the blaze that killed Durango firefighter Nick Parks III and police Cpl. Gale Emerson and destroyed most of the western 800 block of Main Avenue. Amateur historian and photographer Helen Nossaman tracked the progress of the fire.
According to the Durango Herald, "The call came in at 3:50 a.m. Aug. 24, 1974. The Herb Williams Lumber Co. near Camino del Rio was on fire. At 3:55 a.m., another call came in: The West Building, on East Second Avenue, was ablaze."Both callers were wrong, the firefighters of the Durango Fire Department discovered, says the Herald. "The callers were misinterpreting the smoke pluming from a fire on Main Avenue that would destroy six historic buildings in the middle of the 800 block and kill two young first responders who were trying to save others."
A different Durango existed in my early youth, a more innocent place, I guess. With fewer fears, and a less complicated understanding of the world. Images recalled are of the circus at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, frosty root beer mugs at the A & W, "The hottest brand going" gas station on the corner, and main street business with a larger-than-life horse on the front of the building. To paraphrase Don Henley, "But, somewhere back there in the dust, That same small town in each of us," is still a fond memory.
At 9:15 a.m. Aug. 24, 1974, onlookers at the intersection of Main Avenue and Ninth Street watch as firefighters battle the blaze that killed Durango firefighter Nick Parks III and police Cpl. Gale Emerson and destroyed most of the western 800 block of Main Avenue. Amateur historian and photographer Helen Nossaman tracked the progress of the fire.
According to the Durango Herald, "The call came in at 3:50 a.m. Aug. 24, 1974. The Herb Williams Lumber Co. near Camino del Rio was on fire. At 3:55 a.m., another call came in: The West Building, on East Second Avenue, was ablaze."Both callers were wrong, the firefighters of the Durango Fire Department discovered, says the Herald. "The callers were misinterpreting the smoke pluming from a fire on Main Avenue that would destroy six historic buildings in the middle of the 800 block and kill two young first responders who were trying to save others."
My father, (Dolores Volunteer Fire Department firefighter at the time) recalled that Cortez, Dolores, Mancos, Farmington and other nearby towns sent crews to help out that morning.
Together with several fire fighters and police officers, the two that were killed began to evacuate the apartments over Gardenswartz Sporting Goods. During the evacuation, the building exploded. A brick wall collapsed, killing both Firefighter Parks and Corporal Emerson. Firefighter N P “Nick” Parks III was killed the day before his 25th birthday and buried on his Dad’s birthday, August 27, 1974.
The 800 block of Main Avenue, shot in 1956. Most of these buildings are no longer standing unless you look down the next block where you’ll see the First National Band and the Burns Bank. In 1974 an arson fire destroyed six buildings on the western (left) side of the street. Gilbert Martinez confessed to starting the fire that took the life of a fireman and a police officer. The Main Mall was built where some of the destroyed buildings once stood.
The young men who died have been remembered in countless stories in the nearly half century since the fire.
“Both were natural police and firemen,” said Lt. Dale Smith of the DPD on the 20th anniversary of the fire. “Some of us have to work at it to be good. They had the instincts to be good,” recalled the Herald in a story near 40th anniversary of their death.
"Emerson and Parks were both 24, and both of their wives were pregnant with their first children. Neither Nicki Nicole Parks nor Jerod Emerson would ever know their fathers," said the paper.
"Soon after responding to the fire, Parks and fellow firefighter Ben “Butch” Gomez were sent to the back of Taylor-Raymond Jewelers to evacuate residents of the apartments upstairs. Emerson, who had gone off shift at 3 a.m., but was still in uniform and at the station, came back to help. As the three approached the burning building, it exploded, crushing and killing Parks and Emerson. The blast blew Gomez under a car.
“I actually thought I had died and gone to hell,” he said 30 years later. “I lost two brothers. If we hadn’t lost those two men, I would have stayed with the fire department. It just wasn’t the same after that.”
Their deaths were shocking to all on scene.
“All we wanted to do was go home and grieve our loss,” said Patrick Kelley, who would go on to become a captain with the fire department. “But being in this business, we had to stay and finish the job we started.”
One thing did change about how they fought the fire – they weren’t sending anymore men in. Firefighters pumped water into the buildings for more than 12 hours, reported the Herald.
Among the challenges of fighting the fire; burning rubber boots in the basement of Thompson Saddle Shop and ammunition at Gardenswartz Sporting Goods might start exploding.
Reporter Karen Keiser from Denver’s Channel 7 News flew over Durango as part of her fire coverage. She said the smoke was visible 30 miles away and could be smelled at 10,000 feet.
Officers at First National Bank of Durango, just across east Ninth Street from the fire, were concerned it might hop blocks as the fire of 1889 did. They called out all the employees to help save irreplaceable records, organizing them in teams in case an evacuation was necessary.
"The fire took more than 24 hours to completely extinguish. Nine businesses were destroyed, including Gardenswartz Sporting Goods, Thompson Saddle Shop, City Taxi, Taylor-Raymond Jewelers and Chez Louis, a French restaurant. Several others were seriously damaged, including the Kiva Theater, where screenings of “The Sting” were abruptly terminated," notes the local newspaper.
Residents, including many seniors, were left homeless.
After the fire, the cause was originally attributed to a faulty electrical box.
More than a year later in November 1975, police arrested Gilbert F. Martinez, 25, in a different arson case. He then confessed to the Aug. 24 Main Avenue fire and several others. Martinez said he started the fire because he was angry about being evicted.
There was little evidence to support the confession, and there were questions about Martinez’s sanity.
The case was moved to Breckenridge in Summit County because of concerns about his receiving a fair trial here. His first two trials resulted in mistrials as jurors struggled with whether or not he was legally insane.
Before a third trial started, Martinez pleaded guilty to setting separate, minor fire in Durango, and not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of murder, for Emerson and Parks’ deaths, and three counts of first-degree arson.
In 1994, after 18 years at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, Martinez was released. A judge placed 11 restrictions on his freedom, including that he was not allowed to return to Southwest Colorado or drink alcohol and must continue with therapy.
In 2005, he petitioned the court to have the restrictions lifted, and the judge agreed. The only conditions remaining are, that as a convicted felon, Martinez cannot own a gun or vote.
“I am so disappointed with the justice system,” Kelley told the Herald in 2005. “Years later, it gives this case to judges who have no history of the pain and suffering that was caused by Gilbert F. Martinez. To Judge W. Terry Ruckriegle of Breckenridge, I say, ‘Shame on you!’”
Martinez reportedly returned to Pueblo or move to Phoenix, but the legal system no longer tracks his whereabouts.
"Whatever becomes of Martinez, friends and family of Parks and Emerson will never forget the two young men who were lost serving their community," says the Durango Herald.
“Both were natural police and firemen,” said Lt. Dale Smith of the DPD on the 20th anniversary of the fire. “Some of us have to work at it to be good. They had the instincts to be good,” recalled the Herald in a story near 40th anniversary of their death.
"Emerson and Parks were both 24, and both of their wives were pregnant with their first children. Neither Nicki Nicole Parks nor Jerod Emerson would ever know their fathers," said the paper.
"Soon after responding to the fire, Parks and fellow firefighter Ben “Butch” Gomez were sent to the back of Taylor-Raymond Jewelers to evacuate residents of the apartments upstairs. Emerson, who had gone off shift at 3 a.m., but was still in uniform and at the station, came back to help. As the three approached the burning building, it exploded, crushing and killing Parks and Emerson. The blast blew Gomez under a car.
“I actually thought I had died and gone to hell,” he said 30 years later. “I lost two brothers. If we hadn’t lost those two men, I would have stayed with the fire department. It just wasn’t the same after that.”
Their deaths were shocking to all on scene.
“All we wanted to do was go home and grieve our loss,” said Patrick Kelley, who would go on to become a captain with the fire department. “But being in this business, we had to stay and finish the job we started.”
One thing did change about how they fought the fire – they weren’t sending anymore men in. Firefighters pumped water into the buildings for more than 12 hours, reported the Herald.
Among the challenges of fighting the fire; burning rubber boots in the basement of Thompson Saddle Shop and ammunition at Gardenswartz Sporting Goods might start exploding.
Reporter Karen Keiser from Denver’s Channel 7 News flew over Durango as part of her fire coverage. She said the smoke was visible 30 miles away and could be smelled at 10,000 feet.
Officers at First National Bank of Durango, just across east Ninth Street from the fire, were concerned it might hop blocks as the fire of 1889 did. They called out all the employees to help save irreplaceable records, organizing them in teams in case an evacuation was necessary.
"The fire took more than 24 hours to completely extinguish. Nine businesses were destroyed, including Gardenswartz Sporting Goods, Thompson Saddle Shop, City Taxi, Taylor-Raymond Jewelers and Chez Louis, a French restaurant. Several others were seriously damaged, including the Kiva Theater, where screenings of “The Sting” were abruptly terminated," notes the local newspaper.
Residents, including many seniors, were left homeless.
After the fire, the cause was originally attributed to a faulty electrical box.
More than a year later in November 1975, police arrested Gilbert F. Martinez, 25, in a different arson case. He then confessed to the Aug. 24 Main Avenue fire and several others. Martinez said he started the fire because he was angry about being evicted.
There was little evidence to support the confession, and there were questions about Martinez’s sanity.
The case was moved to Breckenridge in Summit County because of concerns about his receiving a fair trial here. His first two trials resulted in mistrials as jurors struggled with whether or not he was legally insane.
Before a third trial started, Martinez pleaded guilty to setting separate, minor fire in Durango, and not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of murder, for Emerson and Parks’ deaths, and three counts of first-degree arson.
In 1994, after 18 years at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, Martinez was released. A judge placed 11 restrictions on his freedom, including that he was not allowed to return to Southwest Colorado or drink alcohol and must continue with therapy.
In 2005, he petitioned the court to have the restrictions lifted, and the judge agreed. The only conditions remaining are, that as a convicted felon, Martinez cannot own a gun or vote.
“I am so disappointed with the justice system,” Kelley told the Herald in 2005. “Years later, it gives this case to judges who have no history of the pain and suffering that was caused by Gilbert F. Martinez. To Judge W. Terry Ruckriegle of Breckenridge, I say, ‘Shame on you!’”
Martinez reportedly returned to Pueblo or move to Phoenix, but the legal system no longer tracks his whereabouts.
"Whatever becomes of Martinez, friends and family of Parks and Emerson will never forget the two young men who were lost serving their community," says the Durango Herald.
The 800 block of Main Avenue, shot in 1956. Most of these buildings are no longer standing unless you look down the next block where you’ll see the First National Band and the Burns Bank. In 1974 an arson fire destroyed six buildings on the western (left) side of the street. Gilbert Martinez confessed to starting the fire that took the life of a fireman and a police officer. The Main Mall was built where some of the destroyed buildings once stood.
Cpl. Gale Emerson, Firefighter Nick Parks III
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