UPDATE: Investigators enter Providence mill destroyed by fire
By Matt Blanchette
@mattblanchette
UPDATE: Fire investigators are finally entering a Sims Ave. mill building Wednesday afternoon, a day after it was destroyed by flames. It took crews a while to clear water out of the building before they could enter.
The walls of the empty mill in Providence came crashing down just after midnight Tuesday.
Crews battled the flames from outside and then worked to put out hot spots on the inside. Several agencies will now begin to piece together what happened.
“ATF joins us in any fires. This is a major fire in the city of Providence,” Providence Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Pare said.
“We come in early with investigators from our department. We will lead this, state police and ATF are here. We have to treat it as something suspicious until we determine otherwise, and that’s how we will deal with this one.“
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza surveyed the scene overnight and again this morning.
“The wall completely collapsed. The roof collapsed. I think the big story here… did a phenomenal job responding to the fire and getting it under control,” he said.
In all 7 ladders and 2 engines from Providence fought the fire.
“No surrounding businesses were damaged. It was contained to the building,” Providence Fire Chief Clarence Cunha said.
RIPAC, a medical marijuana group next door, did suffer some water damage. And Dan Smith, who was working at neighboring Umicore, lost his truck, which was parked right next to the now leveled building.
“I just saw flames. and my truck buried in concrete.. cry,” he said.
Neighboring businesses say the building had been empty for about five years. It was previously home to Providence Wire.
(C) WLNE-TV 2015
