"Hot (red) embers were falling on our deck," said Janet Borges, who took a ride to Fall River with her husband Joseph to view the aftermath Saturday afternoon. Somerset residents could see the fire from across the river, and because of the strength and direction of the wind, burning embers made their way to that town. The blaze was so large that the smoke showed up on weather radar, according to an online post from WPRI channel 12. “It shook me up a little bit,” said resident Paul Hoffman. Later on Saturday, electricity was still out in the area, including at the Border City Apartments. Pro-Fitness, located in that building, was completely untouched.Īs a token of their gratitude, the fitness facility is offering a free one-year membership to all active firefighters in Fall River and surrounding towns, according to the Pro-Fitness Facebook page. Firefigthters were able to keep it from catching fire. There was no word when it would reopen or when patients would be allowed back inside for treatment.įurtado said that at one point, fire was touching Border City Mill No. The center had to close to patients on Saturday. He said firefighters went inside the building and unplugged all of the dialysis machines and moved them away from the windows. Neil Furtado said when crews arrived, the metal facade of the dialysis center was smoking. Lynch said the dialysis center sustained some cracked windows from the heat and a hole in the roof caused by a fire from flying embers.įire Capt. ![]() ![]() He would not offer a name.įirefighters worked to save the neighboring buildings by continually hosing them down, but Lynch said they had to let the mill go. “There was a couple of explosions,” the man said. said he could feel the heat from the fire just by touching his window. No firefighters were injured fighting the blaze. One neighbor at Border City Apartments at 2 Weaver St. Another followed.īy 9:30 a.m., just pieces of the brick frame were standing and fire was still smouldering in some areas.Īt the time the fire broke out, Lynch said a security guard was on duty at the mill building. Within a half hour of fighting the blaze, part of the building collapsed. 1 on West Street occupied by artist studios and a fitness center. The mill is just across from the Fall River Kidney Center and another Border City Mill No. Mutual aid was brought in from Somerset, Swansea, Westport and Berkley. “Every piece of apparatus in the city was here,” Lynch said. Smoke billowed high into the sky and burning embers flew as far as Somerset. And, shortly after the entire four-story mill was blazing with an intense heat that could be felt several hundred feet away. Within minutes, the whole floor was on fire. 3 at the corner of Weaver and West streets, they saw fire shooting out of four windows on the second floor of the brick building. When firefighters arrived to the vacant Border City Mill No. Richmond County investigators will be coming to Burke County this week to interview Smith and the witness.FALL RIVER - An historic mill building in the city’s North End was reduced to rubble early Saturday morning.įall River Fire Deputy Chief John Lynch said a still alarm came in just after 3 a.m. Investigator Claude Wade of the Waynesboro Police Department said additional charges are pending for the theft of a gun from another vehicle. In addition to the car thefts, Burke County deputies have charged Smith with entering an auto in connection to a June 16 case in which a purse was stolen from a car on Story Mill Road. The witness claimed he stole four more cars from Richmond County, including the one he’d traded for bad crack cocaine. While he was being treated at Burke Medical Center, a witness told deputies that Smith stole a car from the Burke County Recreation Department gym in May and another from the Wal-Mart parking lot on April 16. Dan Lowe of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, the case broke open after Smith allegedly traded a stolen vehicle for drugs and began having seizures. Jerome Edward Smith, 33, went from patient to inmate last Friday after a witness divulged information about numerous thefts in Burke and Richmond counties.Īccording to Sgt. A Burke County man hospitalized for using “bad dope” ended up being arrested for stealing cars.
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