Work resuming on Floyd Hill; expect overnight closings

PAGE 7 WEEKLY REGISTER-CALLFebruary 20, 2025

During the rescue effort, “an

elderly female was found de-

ceased in the apartment.” The

cause of the fire is under in-

vestigation by a Gilpin County

Sheriff’s Office investigator with

assistance from the Colorado

Division of Fire Prevention and

Control,” it said.

The Division of Fire Preven-

tion and Control declined to

provide details of the investiga-

tion late last week, referring

the request to Central City Fire

Department Chief Gary Allen.

However, the sheriff’s office and

Allen jointly released additional

information late last week fol-

lowing a request by the Weekly

Register-Call.

According to the update:

• Central City Fire Depart-

ment was the first agency

dispatched. “Central City

Fire Department is not staffed

during overnight hours. The

department depends on vol-

unteer firefighters to respond

• Clear Creek Fire Author-

ity and Black Hawk Fire

Department were called for

mutual aid. In an incident

timeline, Central City Fire

requested assistance from

Clear Creek Fire at 3:19

a.m. Approximately six

minutes later, at 3:25 a.m.,

the Central City Fire De-

partment instructed county

dispatch to request Black

Hawk assistance.

[Note: However, Black

Hawk’s elected leaders ex-

pressed concern that their first

responders, who were minutes

away, couldn’t go to the scene

until their mutual aid was re-

quested. See related story.]

• Black Hawk police officers

arrived first on the scene in

approximately two minutes

and, at 3:27 a.m., began

evacuating the building.

• At 3:30 a.m., Black Hawk

Fire Department Engine 41

arrived and took command.

BHFD’s Rescue vehicle No.

41 was on the scene at 3:32

a.m.

• Central City Fire Depart-

ment arrived on the scene

after the Black Hawk Fire

Department.

five personnel.

situation.

at 3:39 a.m.

scene at 4 a.m.

• At 4:38 a.m., the Black

Hawk Fire Department

declared the scene clear.

About five minutes later,

residents of Building One

were allowed back into

their apartments.

• Only the two Black Hawk

Police Officers who initially

entered the building –

later identified as Sgt. Levi

Marston and Officer Sean

Webb – were transported

to the hospital, reportedly

for smoke inhalation.

The additional information from

the sheriff’s office and Central

City Fire noted, “Black Hawk Fire

Department did an outstanding job

in containing the fire and evacuat-

ing the building.” It also reminded

residents to check their smoke

detectors monthly. “If your detec-

tors use regular batteries, replace

batteries yearly,” it noted.

B.H. leaders praise police, ﬁre for fast-ﬁre help to

Central but question why they weren’t called ﬁrst

Several hours after the Cen-

tral City fire was extinguished,

Black Hawk’s elected lead-

ers, Black Hawk Police Chief

Michelle Moriarity and Black

Hawk Fire Chief Christopher

Woolley, discussed what had

occurred earlier on the morning

of Feb. 12.

The leaders praised police

officers Levi Marston and Sean

Webb for their bravery in run-

ning into the burning build-

ing and alerting residents to

evacuate despite their inability

to save a woman who perished

during the incident.

For Black Hawk’s leaders,

it was the timing of how the

city’s assistance was requested

that raised concerns from

Mayor David Spellman and

city aldermen. The mayor ad-

dressed what he called “a very

tragic event” earlier that day.

He questioned the wording of

a press release issued earlier

Wednesday by Gilpin County

and the Central City Fire De-

partment. “It was not a full ac-

counting of what took place. It

doesn’t acknowledge what can

only be described as heroic ef-

forts. It was their heroic efforts

to enter the apartment and also

evacuate the balance of that

building,” he said.

“There also was the extreme

professionalism of the Black

Hawk Fire Department,” Spell-

man continued. “We were the

first fire department to show up

at the scene. We were the only

ones to lay hoses and extinguish

the fire. I think there needs

to be a reckoning on some of

this from the county on what

took place. We need to leave in

reality of what happened here

between our two departments.”

According to Moriarty, “I

would like to say we are sad-

dened by the loss of a com-

munity member today, and

we hold family members and

friends in our thoughts. I am

also honored to be here today

to talk about the bravery this

morning of two of my officers,

Sgt. Levi Marston and Officer

Sean Webb. They arrived first

on the scene. They crawled into

the apartment on the floor.

They worked hard, attempted

a rescue and evacuated the

building while fighting through

smoke-filled hallways. Once the

fire [department] got every-

thing established, we were able

to transfer some responsibili-

ties. They were able to receive

some medical care and were

taken to the hospital. They are

currently at home [recovering]

from smoke inhalation. We

were very saddened to learn

about the loss of a community

Woolley echoed Moriarty’s

comments, adding, “We have

a tremendous core of first

responders in this city. They

very much take their job very

seriously. I’m very proud of

everyone who answered this

call. The two police officers

went very much above and

beyond. They should be com-

mended. The professionalism

our firefighters exhibited was

top-notch. This was a fire that

five people handled in less than

five minutes upon arrival. In

other cities, you have multiple

more firefighters than can show

up in a situation like this. We

are talking about a multi-family

dwelling that has a ton of other

residents in it. I’m very proud

to sit here in front of you and

tell you how impressive your

fire members and police are.”

Responded the mayor, “It

was an incident that could have

been far more catastrophic

without the efforts of the Black

Hawk Police Department and

the Black Hawk Fire Depart-

ment. Regarding the press

release, I think there needs to

be a better accounting of what

transpired. I think our police

and fire department were ready

to be [dispatched for the call],

but there seemed to have been a

Information released later in

the week from Gilpin County

and the Central City Fire De-

partment reported Clear Creek

Fire Authority was called to

the fire several minutes before

someone requested help from

Black Hawk. The delay led

Black Hawk leaders to raise

the question why Black Hawk

Fire Department, which has a

full-time, 24-hour staffing and

was just minutes away, wasn’t

requested first.

Spellman said he watched

video from the vest cameras

worn by the police officers who

went into the building. “It is

nothing short of heroic by the

two officers,” he commented.

Spellman said the prelimi-

nary report showed that Clear

Creek Fire County – whose

closest fire station is 17 miles

from Central City – initially

received the call six minutes be-

fore Black Hawk’s first respond-

ers were asked for assistance.

“I think our two departments

deserve a round of applause. At

a future meeting, probably in

March, we’ll recognize our two

police officers and fire depart-

ment members, as well.”

Woman perishes in Central City apartment ﬁre

The early morning fire happened in Building One (on the right) at the Gold

Mountain Village Apartments located on Powder Run Drive, near the Den-

ver West-Central City KOA Campground, which is on the hill overlooking

Central City’s downtown area.

Drone photo by Don Ireland.

Black Hawk Fire Chief Christopher Woolley and BH Police Chief

Michelle Moriarty discussed the deadly Central City fire with the

city leaders several hours after it was extinguished Feb. 12.

Photo by Don Ireland

Work resuming on Floyd Hill; expect overnight closings

Patrick Henry Sweeney

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