Large fire destroys abandoned mill in Fall River

FALL RIVER, Mass. — A large, suspicious fire raged at a mill on Weaver Street Saturday morning, completely destroying it.

"It was a fireball, everything it was just glowing," said Katie Lambert, who lives nearby.

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There were dozens of fire trucks and police crews on the scene, and because of the size, many off-duty firefighters were called in. The mill takes up an entire city block.

PHOTOS: Fire destroys Weaver Street Mill in Fall River

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Firefighters first responded around 3:30 a.m. Saturday and by 6 a.m. nearly a dozen agencies had been called in to assist. By 10 a.m. the fire had been extinguished, but crews remained on scene nearly all day to monitor hot spots. The entire building was destroyed.

The exterior of the building is brick, but everything else is made of wood. The smoke from the fire was so thick that it showed up on the weather radar for the Bristol County area.

Neighbors tell FOX25 the mill was unoccupied, but firefighters said it will likely be days before they can confirm no one was inside. The property has 24 hour security, so they believe no one was inside.

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The Fall River fire chief said that until they gather more information, they are calling the fire suspicious. Investigators were not able to go all the way into what was left of the building Saturday because it was still smoldering.

Firefighters were able to save records at the Fall River kidney center, which was next door. The heat was so intense that part of the building was damaged.

"We were able to get the records out of there and provide them to the dialysis center so they could re-route the patients so they could make sure it didn't effect their treatments," said District Chief Jeffrey Bacon.

Firefighters also saved the neighboring mill on West Street, which has several business inside.

Firefighters said the same mill was struck by lightning last summer and there was a small fire.

Anyone with information about the 3 am fire can call 1-800-682-9229, confidentially, 24 hours a day. While this fire has not been determined to have been intentionally set the Arson Watch Reward Program does offer rewards of up to $5,000 for information.

Cox Media Group