Fire in Bisbee damages 2 historic buildings. Here's what happened

Two historic buildings were damaged by a Wednesday night fire that swept through Bisbee's picturesque downtown.

The city's post on Facebook said the fire on Main Street affected Many Fine Things Gallery, an antique store. A second business, the specialty grocery store Bisbee Oil & Vinegar, Co., was impacted too, according to Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum Executive Director Annie Graeme Larkin.

"The fire is not out, and we will be putting water on it probably for the rest of the night. Much of the brick facade is laying in the street," read a Facebook post posted a little past 1 a.m. Thursday on the page of the historic mining town in Cochise County.

"A tragic fire on Main Street tonight. Was held from spreading with heroic effort from our Firefighters and help from many other departments," read an early Thursday morning post on Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge's Facebook page.

By late Thursday morning, firefighters were still spraying down remnants of the fire. The smell of smoke emanated from the old building on Main Street that had been gutted, while a pile of bricks lay in the middle of the roadway. Surrounding businesses were closed, but City Manager Stephen Pauken said they were expected to be reopened by Thursday afternoon.

History of Bisbee

The city is 11 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. After discovery of minerals in the area in the late 1870s, nearly 3 million ounces of gold and 8 billion pounds of copper, along with silver, lead and zinc were mined out of Bisbee, according to the Bisbee Visitor Center website.

An Oct. 14, 1908, fire left nearly 500 homeless and devastated $750,000 in property, according to a Bisbee Daily Review newspaper article from the time. Dynamite was used to blow out buildings to cut off the spread of the fire, which started in a closet at the Grand Hotel, the article detailed.

By the early 1900s, Bisbee was the largest city in the Arizona territory. It had a population of 20,000 by 1910, the visitor center page noted.

A deputized posse of 2,000 in July 1917 kidnapped and cattle-carted 1,300 striking miners, supporters and bystanders to New Mexico out of fear these workers were trying to unionize, according to the visitor center. Most were from Mexico, but there were many miners from Finland, Serbia and Switzerland also taken against their will, according to records by the University of Arizona.

As the mining industry changed, Bisbee changed with it, with greater focus on tourism. In 2016, Bisbee was named the Best Small Town of 2016 by USA TODAY readers.

"Bisbee’s appeal lies in its Victorian architecture, pretty scenery and laid-back vibe, and the Smithsonian-affiliated Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum does an excellent job of recounting the town’s colorful history," USA Today's piece read.

Its population was reported at just under 5,000 people in 2020.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bisbee fire damages 2 historic buildings