Ron's Story:
DEERTRAILCO – Awful John’s Grain Exchange burns down early in the morning of May 9th According to the Fire Department of Deer Trail the fire started around 1 A. M. The grain elevator was owned by the late John Turecek. Today Helen Turecek and family owner it of Deer Trail, Colorado. The elevator did at one time belong to Venter & Milburn Inc. until the late 1975 as Mr. John Turecek bought it and Otto Venter was the advisor for a year to show how the grain elevator operated.
The steel elevator was built around in the 1955 year, the middle elevator between the steel tank elevator and the one that burned down this morning was hit by the flood of 1965. I was amount the ones that help tear down the middle elevator after coming home from Vietnam in 1965. A lot of memories of the old grain elevator that I remember as far back as 1948 and spent a few days working there when I was younger. The wiring in the elevator that burned down had old eclectic wires that most likely dated back to the early 1940’s with the old type of electric motors that ran the grain from one place to the other and to the warehouse that also burned down. I remember one time, that one of the electric old motors up in the head-house on top of the grain elevator had belt driven cups that pick up the wheat from the pits that the grain was dump into the transformed to different bins or to the warehouse by means of screw conveyor elevators to move grain, any ways it caught on fire and was put out with an old fire extinguishers and new belts installed by the late Otto Venter.
One of the Deer Trail Fire Trucks was there soaking the hot spots and David Turecek was there too, I bet that was a hard thing to deal with and a big lose like this, plus a Land Mark Gone Forever
With the wind the way is was blowing when I took this video, most likely is was blowing that was at the time of the fire, and once it started, there was no way to put it out and I seen wind speed of 28 to 32 miles an hour during the night time according to my weather station in Deer Trail.
The elevator that burned down was called the Moser Elevator and I forgot how that was naming other than a person that owned it at one time before the 1940s? Most likely that Mr. Harry (Dutch) Venter will give a more detailed history to the Elevator later next week? Ron Schaffer
Fire Destroys Historic Deer Trail Landmark
By: Harry (Dutch) Venter Tri-County Tribune.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Awful John's Grain Exchange wooden grain handling facility in Deer Trail was completely destroyed by fire shortly after midnight Tuesday, June 09, 2010.
As the structures burned an occasional explosion could be seen and heard, which was probably the contents of boxes, sacks and cans stored in the warehouses.
Most of the storage bins were empty. The only grain lost was about 250 bushels of seed wheat and 300 bushels of corn.
No cause of the fire was, available at press time.
John and Helen Tureeek purchased the grain and feed handling facility in 1972 from Otto Venter and James Milburn. Fire Departments responded from Deer Trail, Byers, Bennett, Strasburg and Altura.
It was not clear who asked some departments to respond and not others. Chief Larry Rector said the Agate Fire Department was not asked to respond to the blaze. The grain elevator and, smaller warehouse was built in 1916 by a group of farmers and businesses known as the Deer Trail Farmers Union Elevator
Company with a capacity of 6,000 bushels of bulk storage The warehouse was 16-feet by 47 feet. The larger warehouse; a wooden structure measuring 38-feet by 90-feet was built by
Venter & Milburn, Inc. in 1947
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