The three-alarm fire started in the candle shop sometime before 9 a.m. The cause is still under investigation.
Flames shot 20 feet into the air, and smoke could be seen from I-25 and across the city for hours.
One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation and dehydration.
Two hours before the blaze was reported, a TV news crew was at the shop interviewing the owners about candle safety. The owners then took the crew to breakfast and learned of the fire later.
The buildings that burned were more than 100 years old, mostly built by the wealth that flowed down the hills after gold was discovered in Cripple Creek in 1890. They were the Candle Shoppe, Old Town Glass, King's Gallery of Collectibles and Stillwaters Furniture.
Meadow Muffins bar and the nationally renowned Michael Garman Galleries, which book-end the block of businesses on the north side of the street, suffered smoke, water and fire damage. Producers Group Studio and Santa Fe Springs Art Gallery were damaged.
Candle store fire, noon update, Dec. 11, 2002.
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