Century of Butte Stories

Butte High School Destroyed by Fire in 1946

By John Astle

(A column featuring stories from Butte's newspapers during the past 100 years).

One of the major fires this past century was Butte High School, on April 10, 1946. The school was on the corner of Park and Idaho streets, across from the Knights of Columbus hall. Today it is the site of Butte Central High School.

Fire was discovered at the famous Butte landmark at 9:30 p.m. Three trucks from the Quartz Street fire station answered the call, but by 10 o'clock, flames burst through the top of the building. All volunteer departments were called, including Walkerville, Centerville, Boulevard, Floral Park, Race Track, East Butte, McQueen, and Meaderville.

Over 10,000 spectators watched as the fire raged out of control. Several spectators helped pull hoses and lay lines. Two groups of volunteers manned the old-style two and half inch hoses.

As the entire top of the school became a mass of flames, nearby buildings were threatened by hot, flying sparks. The buildings in danger included the K.C. Hall, Dyckman Hotel, Almira Apartments, Butte Pioneer Club, Albertson Block, Elks, Jim's Service Station, Temple B'Nai Israel, and Masonic Temple.

It became necessary at times for the fire fighters to divert water to the roofs of these buildings. At one time, the roof of the Knights of Columbus building began to burn and a volunteer K.C. crew manned lines to put out the flames.

Those protecting the K.C. building against flying pieces of burning wood (brands) and sparks, used hoses from their homes. They sprayed water on the building until early hours of the morning. Volunteers included: Mickey Murphy, Ray O'Neill, Bob Watson, Jack Leary, Putts Sullivan, Ed Foley, Steve Frankino, Chuck Davis, Ed Gately, Rev. James P. Dowdall, Tim McCarthy, Dennis Shea, Jerry Meagher, O. J. Thomas, Tim Carney, Jim Mehrens, Joe Brown, Jim Fleming, Willard Burns, Leo Riley, Joe Sullivan, Robert Sullivan, Ed Thomas, B. and W. Brady, and Nick and Lewis Rotering.

Volunteers piled Army records and furniture on Galena Street after they had been removed from the BHS annex, which housed the Army Induction Center. It was all hauled to a warehouse by Army trucks.

During the height of the fire, an airplane arriving in Butte swooped low over the city to give passengers a birds-eye view of the flames.

Fire Chief John O’Donnell declared the fire under control at 12:45 a.m.

Newspaper stories ranked this fire as one of Butte's largest, along with the big warehouse fire on south Montana Street, March 16-17, 1939; the Thomas Block fire on West Park, September 1, 1912; and the Columbia Block, Empress Theater, Bank Hotel, Symons, and McKinley School fires.

Butte High School was constructed in 1896 and for many years was the largest high school building in the state. In 1904, the machine shop annex, which in 1946 housed the Army Induction Center, was built. In 1916 the gymnasium was added. At the time of the fire Webster School elementary students were using the gym.

When the "new" Butte High School on Wyoming Street was opened on January 3, 1938, it replaced the original school. Old Butte High remained vacant briefly, until a major portion of it was taken over by the offices and work stations of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

A few years before the fire, a roller skating rink had been operated in the gym, which also was used as a grade school and an independent league basketball. Swimming classes also were held for the grade schools. During summers the swimming pool was available under joint sponsorship of the city and the school board.

Copyright © 2000 John Astle