Fire destroys portion of Prescott’s Whiskey Row
May 9, 2012, 8:59 AM | Updated: Jun 4, 2012, 4:10 pm
A fire on Prescott’s famed Whiskey Row has destroyed at
least three businesses.
Authorities said it’s still unclear what triggered the
fire Tuesday evening and the blaze still hasn’t been
brought under control.
Multiple agencies and at least 50 people were working on
the fire on the
historic strip of saloons, restaurants and shops.
“It’s a major fire about the center of Whiskey Row,” said
Dennis Farnsworth, adding that the fire continued to flare
up despite firefighters’ efforts to put out the flames.
An employee at the Bird Cage Saloon noticed smoke about
6:20 p.m. and unable to
find the source, got customers out of the bar and called
911.
“They were having a hard time with it,” Farnsworth added.
“A real hard time.
“About eight, nine ambulances — something like that.
Every fire truck in the city, I think, looks like it’s
there. Police officers.”
It took crews about two hours to get the fire under
control. Prescott Fire and the Central Yavapai Fire
District responded with at least
eight engine companies.
Farnsworth said he believes the fire was centered towards
the rear of a restaurant known as The Palace.
On July 14, 1900, the entire block of Whiskey Row was
destroyed in a large fire. The current structures were
built between 1900 and 1905.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this
report.
