Firefighters responded to a fire in an unused silo-like building on the east side of the Coors Brewery in Golden on the morning of July 30.

The fire started burning around 11: 30 a.m. with flames visible at the roof level of the 16-story structure, said Alan Fletcher, the chief of the Fairmount Fire Protection District.

Fletcher said firefighters had to ascend stairways on the exterior of the structure to get water onto the fire, which was under control within about 90 minutes.

“It took a little bit to get to the hot spots,” said Fletcher. “The whole 16-stories from top to bottom is empty so it wasn't safe in any shape or form to be on that roof structure so we had to get above it.”

There were no injuries reported and Fletcher said Coors staff had indicated that the brewery's operations were not impacted.

Fletcher described the roof as being “open almost like a deck” and said that while Coors will have to “do some cleanup which will cost money” he did not expect there to be any affect on the brewery beyond that as the structure is not used in current operations.

A total of five agencies including Golden, Fairmount and West Metro responded to the fire. The firefighters also utilized a West Metro drone outfitted with a thermal camera.

“That was cool to be able to use that to fly over and see the areas of heat on the roof that we were having a hard time getting to,” Fletcher said.

The brewery, located at 311 10th Street, was founded by Adolph Coors in 1873, and has been a major employer, tourism draw and cultural cornerstone of the the city.