Colorado’s home to six abandoned Titan missile complexes from the 1960s.
DEER TRAIL, Colo. — On Sunday morning, crews rescued a teen who was seriously injured when he fell down an abandoned missile silo in Arapahoe County. When 9NEWS visited that same missile silo seven years ago, its owner said he was planning on closing up the entrance because the site was too dangerous.
What’s an abandoned missile silo doing in Colorado, anyway?
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), there are actually six of them across the state. They’re old Titan missile complexes built by the U.S. government.
Titan I missiles were among the first strategic, intercontinental ballistic missiles developed by the U.S., CDPHE’s website says. They were designed to carry nuclear warheads.
The silos where these missiles were kept were decommissioned by the federal government in 1965 and the missiles were removed, but their physical history is still here underground.
Four of the other Titan missile complexes are located just east of Aurora on the former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range. Another is just south of Elizabeth.
The silo 9NEWS visited in 2016, where the teen fell Sunday, is just north of Deer Trail. That’s about 45 minutes east of Denver.
>Video below from 2016: Why is no one allowed in this strange, old missile silo in Colorado?
The Deer Trail site is under private ownership, but it was no stranger to trespassers who crossed the fields to explore.
Seven years ago, the entrance to the silo was covered in colorful graffiti, and a large gap in the bars that once blocked the entrance made a hole big enough for people to climb through.
The silo itself is extremely dark and full of old equipment. After walking far enough inside, the silo opens up into a giant, domed generator room.
Former 9NEWS anchor Gary Shapiro stood high above the floor of the generator room on a mesh catwalk with large holes in it. The property owner told him he was worried that someone would get in and get hurt, or worse.
Seven years later, a group of teens were able to get inside the tunnels when one fell about 30 feet. The other teens were rescued hours later. The teen that fell was transported to a nearby hospital.
The owner told 9NEWS Sunday that he still constantly sees signs of trespressing at silo despite numerous warning signs.
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