Masonic Temple Fire – 1915
On the night of April 4, 1915, a spring snowstorm hit northern Rhode Island bringing with it gale force winds. That night there had been a meeting held at the Masonic Temple in Greenville, and when it was over, it was learned that there would be no more trolleys running back to Providence until the tracks would be cleared in the morning. Therefore several men opted to sleep in the temple and wait out the storm. (Trolley lines once ran along Putnam Pike in Greenville.)
At about 2 A.M. one man noticed an orange glow outside a window, and upon investigation, saw that the blacksmith shop next to the temple was on fire. He alerted the others and together they began spreading the alarm to the sleeping village.
The wind driven flames quickly spread to the Masonic Temple, and caused the electrical wires used to power the trolleys to snap. The dangling live wires created an additional hazard to fire fighters as they set about attacking the flames.
The fire gained fast headway, and burning embers blown skyward set additional fires. One small fire occurred at the home of a man named Appleby, which was about 400 yards away. A nearby barn as well as the public library also caught fire, but these were quickly extinguished.
The flames also spread to a wooden tenement building forcing occupants to flee in nothing but their nightclothes, with no shoes or coats! Next to the temple was a small restaurant which also caught fire.
The primary piece of firefighting equipment in Greenville at the time was a 1870s vintage hand-tub known as “The Water Witch”. A call for mutual aid was sent to surrounding towns, and the Manton Fire Company from Johnston answered the call with their modern motorized fire truck. Unfortunately the truck became hopelessly stuck in a snow drift while in route and never made it to the fire. Fortunately firemen from Greystone were able to make it to the scene despite the adverse weather conditions.
The winds were blowing from the west driving the flames eastward towards the center of Greenville and the Greenville Hotel, more commonly referred to today as the former Waterman Tavern. Greenville firefighters laid a line of hose 375 feet long to Whipple’s Pond and drew water from there using the suction capabilities of The Water Witch. It was decided to concentrate all efforts on the restaurant building to halt the fire’s progress. The strategy worked, and partially due to a sudden decrease in the wind, the rest of the village and hotel was saved.
In some ways, the storm was considered both a blessing and a curse, for although the weather played a role in spreading the flames, had it not been for the weather, nobody would have been the fire might have remained undetected leading to loss of life and more destruction.
A new Masonic Temple was built to replace the one lost in the fire. The building, which is made of brick, still stands today, but is no longer a Masonic Temple.
Source: Evening Bulletin, “$12,000 Blaze At Greenville Razes Masonic Building”, April 5, 1915, pg. 3.
