Greenville Mill Fire – 1882
Smithfield’s first fire engine, the Water Witch. Chief Andrew Whipple in photo.
At about 11 P.M. on the night of April 13, 1882, John Sprague looked out the window of his home in Greenville and saw the distant glow of a fire emanating from the area of the Greenville Woolen Company on Putnam Pike in West Greenville. He dressed quickly and raised the alarm. As the bell of the Greenville Fire Company began to sound, Sprague made his way to the scene and discovered flames shooting from an ell section of the mill. He located the night watchman in the boiler room of a separate building who was unaware of the fire. The watchman then began ringing the bell to the mill, which awakened those living in nearby mill tenements and alerting them of the danger.
The Greenville Fire Company’s hand-tub engine, “The Water Witch” was brought to bear against the flames but it was already too late. Sheets of flames licked skyward from every window. The water Witch was Smithfield’s only fire engine at the time, and it was reported in a Providence newspaper that the water poured into the inferno seemed of little consequence and before long the ell section was lost. The fire then spread to the main section of the mill which was four-and-a-half stories high, and 90 feet long by 50 feet wide. One by one, each darkened window gave way to the flames.
By 2 A.M. a stiff breeze was blowing and the flames were now reaching high into the nighttime sky and visible for miles in all directions. The thousands of sparks created by the inferno were described in the press as “…forming a pretty spectacle under the murky sky.”
The villagers took turns manning the hand pumps on the Water Witch but it just wasn’t enough. As the blaze engulfed the entire main building it spread to a two-story out-building which housed the mills boilers and wool dryers. Despite all best efforts, this building too was lost, as was the company’s office building which measured 25 by 25 feet and was two-and-a-half stories high.
Close to the mill was a row of four dwelling homes and a large boarding house. The intense heat baked the wooden roofs and set them to smoking. A water stream was played upon the rooftops as tenants desperately scrambled to save whatever meager possessions they could. One man had to take his seven children and carry his bed-ridden wife to an open field to be safe. Another man was burned in his eye by falling embers. Unfortunately these buildings were also consumed, and by morning many found themselves homeless and out of work.
There was no mention in the newspaper story about the fire pertaining to any out of town fire apparatus assisting at the scene. In 1882, The Water Witch was the only piece of firefighting apparatus in Smithfield.
It was speculated that the fire began in the weaving room of the ell, sparked either by spontaneous combustion, or oily rags left next to a steam pipe.
The mill dated to 1846, and history has shown that it was rebuilt. It burned again in 1908, and was rebuilt again. (click here for more info.) Today an antique center occupies the main building of the former mill.
Source: Evening Bulletin, “The Greenville Fire”, April 14, 1882, pg. 1.
