A fire destroyed Dayton's train depot, Wednesday. The building was part of the Carson and Colorado Railway, and one of three originals remaining from the 1880s.

"We have a lot of emotional impact in the community," Stony Tennant, Dayton resident said. "People are very upset about it. One of them said it was like losing my daughter or one of my kids."

Tennant was the construction manager of the project to restore the depot. He spend most of Thursday at the site of the charred ruins. He had been working on the project to restore the building for more than 20 years. He wanted it to be as close to its original form as it was 138 years ago, right down to the floor boards and square nails.

"We wanted it to be as authentic as possible," Tennant said. "People came and looked, we didn't want to see new materials and everything and all the reconstruction would be done as the original."

Tennant says the train depot was a one-of-a-kind building, and the first one along the railroad. He says the trains delivered supplies to miners throughout Nevada and exported agricultural products.

"This was the first stop and had a passenger section as well as a freight section, and that was one thing that made it unique," Tennant said. "The rest of the serving Carson and Colorado buildings were all freight buildings."

The Lyon County Sheriff's Office arrested Kurt Selzer, 63, in custody. The Ventura, California resident faces two counts of arson for starting nearby brush fires. The cause of the depot's fire is under investigation. Fire officials say embers from the depot fire caused two other buildings to light on fire, and there were several other brush fires.

"This is a historic building so it had no power in it," Chief Rich Harvey, Central Lyon County Fire Protection District said. "It had no residents, occupants. It had no known uses. There's not a lot to indicate it was anything other than human-caused."

He says the investigation will determine if Selzer is responsible for the fire at the train depot.

"We're trying to connect the dots but we're also just trying to find the evidence, follow where the evidence takes us so that each individual investigation leads to a logical conclusion," Harvey said.

Many residents stopped by the property where the train depot once stood. They say losing a precious historical building is devastating.

"Part of our culture, part of the history and it's a sad, sad thing to see this thing burn down to the ground," Eddie Chase, Dayton resident said. "I couldn't believe it."

Chase saw the smoke around 3:30, Wednesday afternoon. He thought it was a commercial building but realized it was the depot when he drove closer.

"I could feel the flame of fire," Chase said. "It was hot. I couldn't believe it. I was very shocked."

Harvey said the fire was unusual because of certain structural elements. The wooden building had a metal roof, which made for unique fire behavior.

"It was very large," Harvey said. "The heat was under it, intense. So as it started to lift up, we were seeing burning aluminum through the air. Something you don't see every day."

Tennant says donations, grants and fund-raisers helped get the building close to the finish line. He says they invested nearly $900,000 into the restoration project. The lumber was ready to go and construction was slated for completion by the end of summer. Many residents want to build a replica of the train depot. Tennant says he will get behind that project if it happens but that restoration of the original was his goal. He says a replica would require today's type of construction and building codes.

"We wouldn't have anywhere near the same emotional impact to people when you came to look at the thing," Tennant said. "It would be just a reproduction, a new building."

A box car from the Carson and Colorado Railway was also damaged in the fire. Tennant says it can be restored with the lumber that was intended to finish the train depot's construction.

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