Eight-alarm blaze guts historic Rhode Island mill

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 6/8/2011 8:51:07 AM ET 2011-06-08T12:51:07

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A massive fire that destroyed a 112-year-old mill in northern Rhode Island was contained Wednesday morning, and fire officials said they would allow the structure to burn itself to the ground.

"Most of the building collapsed upon itself," Deputy Chief Michael Richardson told The Associated Press Wednesday morning. "We have it surrounded and are just wetting it down and surrounding the building."

Firefighters from up to 15 departments in Rhode Island and Massachusetts were called to a blaze at the former Alice Mills Rubber Manufacturing Plant in Woonsocket at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Alice Mills, just miles from the Massachusetts state line, was once considered the largest rubber goods factory in the world. The plant made decoy tanks for the D-Day invasion in World War II and later Keds shoes, according to The Providence Journal .
....

Smoke from the fire could be seen 14 miles away in Providence as the fire quickly spread through the multi-story building and rose to eight alarms. It burned throughout the building and causing the roof on the 217,000 square-foot structure to collapse.

05:10 PM EDT on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
By RICHARD DUJARDIN and DONITA NAYLOR
Journal Staff Writers

WOONSOCKET — The former Woonsocket Rubber Mill, which made rubber decoy tanks for the D-Day invasion and Keds sneakers, was consumed by a quick-moving fire Tuesday night, city officials said.

Fire Chief Gary Lataille said 10 to 15 fire departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts offered assistance. The strategy, he said, was to keep the fire from spreading and let the mill burn to the ground.

Lataille reported one firefighter taken to a hospital.

“This is a very historic building and represents a great loss to Woonsocket,” Mayor Leo T. Fontaine said. He said the building, on 7 acres at 85 Fairmount St., had recently been acquired by the American Wood Pellet Co.