The Providence Fireworks Company was once located at the former Bell Farm on Douglas Pike. It began operations in 1877.
On August 22, 1953, a massive explosion occurred that killed one man and damaged a building.
At about 3 p.m. that day, 25-year-old Robert P. DiNapoli was sifting aluminum powder in an open area near a small shed about 100 feet from the main building where two other men were working. For reasons never determined, the aluminum powder suddenly exploded, the force of which hurled DiNapoli 30 feet through the air, fatally injuring him.
The force of the blast also buckled the walls of the nearby shed.
It was reported that this was not the first accident to occur at the plant. The first occurred in August of 1930 when lightning struck the large production building setting off a tremendous explosion that destroyed the building. Another explosion occurred a few days later when a group of boys began throwing rocks at a tube of explosives that had been set aside. The resulting blast injured six of them.
Source: Providence Journal, “Blast Kills Man At Smithfield”, August 23, 1953.
