In Search of the Paranormal by Richard Estep

Author:Richard Estep
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: paranormal, in search of paranormal, haunting, true, true haunting, true paranormal
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2015-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

[contents]

9

The Restless Firemen

There are some opportunities in life that you just can’t pass up. A haunted and historic old firehouse? Color me there.

Firefighters are exposed to death on a regular basis, and I suspect it is no coincidence that so many firehouses have their stories of a resident ghost or two. Although relatively few people end their life in a firehouse (usually it is a heart attack or other life-threatening emergency following a high-stress call), these buildings do tend to inspire deep feelings of love and affection in those who lived and worked there.

Hose Company Number Three

Travel south from Denver along Interstate 25, and you will soon end up in the industrial city of Pueblo, home to just over 100,000 people and known for its steel production. Impressively, no less than four recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor came from Pueblo. During my visits there, I have found the people to be friendly and welcoming, and more than happy to talk about some of the city’s ghost stories.

The Pueblo Fire Department, represented by Fire Inspector Gary Micheli and Fire Engineer Mark Pickerel, graciously allowed BCPRS to investigate the haunted Hose Company Number Three on several occasions. Our first visit with a small field research team (myself, Miranda, and Brad and Randy from an associated group) took place in March of 2008. This was a midweek visit, on a cool evening when the moon was full and a light breeze stirred the treetops. We left early to avoid the gridlock of Denver traffic and pulled into the parking lot at four o’clock in the afternoon.

Surrounded by power and phone lines on all sides, the two-story firehouse is neighbor to a Masonic Lodge building and a large mortuary. I thought this should make for an interesting mix of energy, in more ways than one.

Mark (who pulls double duty as the museum curator) and Gary gave us a warm welcome, a place to drop off our equipment, and then a fascinating tour of the firehouse, accompanied by some of its historical background. The firehouse dates back to 1895, when it was built by the Masons and offered to the city of Pueblo on a monthly lease until 1900, at which point it was sold to the city “permanently,” meaning that the city of Pueblo cannot sell the firehouse and land to anybody other than the Masons, and can never have alcohol on the property at any time. Still, not a bad deal for the five-hundred-dollar ticket price.

A horse-drawn hose company operated out of the firehouse during those early years, and we would see many signs of the building’s equestrian era as by Gary and Mark conducted us on our tour. The second floor was originally used to store hay feed for the horses, and Mark pointed out a block and tackle mounted just above a second-floor door on the building’s rear side. “They used that to haul hay bales up here for storage,” he said.

What was once the hay loft was converted

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