The Devastating Apponaug Fires
For nearly four decades the Apponaug Company continued to be Warwick's
most significant employer. For many of the immigrants who lived in
Apponaug and West Warwick, the company was their sole means of support.
They considered themselves fortunate to be able to find steady
employment at a time when so many were in the ranks of the unemployed.
A series of owners
As might be expected, change had to come. Much of it began when Alfred
L. Lustig, the president and general manager of the Apponaug Company
died in 1935. For the next decade, the Lustig family continued to
control the enterprise. In 1944, during World War II when shortages
were everywhere, the Lustigs sold the mills. to George V. Mechan.
Within a short time, the mills went to the Aspinools Corporation of
Connecticut. In the postwar years, the principal owners of the company
were the Lamport Co. of New York City, the Bancroft Company of
Wilmington, Delaware and Frederick G. Brown, who was also president and
spokesman for the Apponaug Company.
The doors are closed
By 1958, the Apponaug Company could no longer compete in the textile
field and closed its doors on March 15th. Despite the fact that such
closings had been common in Rhode Island since the 1920s, many felt it
couldn’t happen here. There had been drastic changes in the city in
many areas, but the closing of the mill seemed to have the greatest
impact on all those who had worked there over the years.
In 1960, the Anchor Realty Co. purchased the property and soon began
renting the space to diverse industries. Many small industries such as
the Thompson and Green Machinery Company, the Greenwood Sheet Metal
Company and others recognized the advantages of renting space in the
old mill. Far from being obsolete, the Apponaug mills were a boon to
those businesses, which needed low rent facilities.
The terrible fires
In mid-February 1961, however, the first of three spectacular fires
occurred and the remaining days of the complex were numbered. The first
fire was discovered at approximately 10 P.M. by Deputy Chief Frank W.
White as he was making his regular nightly tour of the fire stations.
The fire, which most likely started in the dye house, quickly destroyed
one building and badly damaged two others. Fire fighters feared that
the spectacular tongues of flame, which illuminated the night sky and
could be seen two miles away, would consume the entire complex and part
of the village of Apponaug as well. The efforts to put out the fire
were hampered by the difficulty of access between the buildings and by
the piles of snow on the ground. As many spectators gathered to watch,
the fire fighters were able to contain the blaze by creating several
curtains of water. Fortunately, they were able to pump the water from
Bridge Brook, a mill trench in a dead end alley. A total of 15 pieces
of equipment from Warwick as well as apparatus from nearby towns were
activated. Over 23,000 feet of 2 and 1/2 inch hose was put into
operation to control the blaze.
This 1961 fire was the worst in Warwick's history to that time. It did
its greatest damage to three buildings in the center of the mill
complex. Most of the seven other buildings escaped with minimal damage
and the Anchor Realty Co. was able to resume its operations in a
relatively short time.
Five years later, in November 1966, another fire at the Apponaug
complex occurred. This time it came when the 175-foot water tower was
struck by lightning and burst into flames. The blaze burned for several
hours before it was finally extinguished. Much of the difficulty in
fighting this fire came from the belief held by the authorities in
charge that the water tower was unsafe and they refused to allow
firemen to climb the structure to fight the blaze at close range. The
wooden top of the tower collapsed into the tank and high winds, gusting
to 35 miles per hour, threatened to spread the fire to the rest of the
Apponaug complex.
Fortunately, firemen were able to put up a water screen, and when the
weather improved, a state helicopter was used to smother the fire with
a water-and-detergent mixture. The fire, which started at 7:30 A.M.,
was not subdued until late afternoon. The tower as it stands today is
the result of this fire of 1966.
The tower was built in 1902 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Co. and was
a fire-protection tank. It is 28 feet in diameter and at one time held
100,000 gallons of water, which supplied the sprinkler system for the
Apponaug Co. When the tower was built, it was considered to be one of
the most modern and effective water tanks in the area.
The fire of 1969
In September 1969, fire again struck in Apponaug at a time when there
were thirty-three businesses in the complex. This time, the buildings
were almost totally destroyed. The blaze was discovered at
approximately 1:45 A.M. by Leonard W. Forest, Jr., a former
fire-lieutenant in Cranston. Within a very short time after the
discovery, Warwick fire fighters were on the scene. The blaze began in
the west end of the complex and quickly traveled for several hundred
yards. At its most intense period, flames shot well over 100 feet in
the air and showered the surrounding area with large sparks. In a very
short time, the complex owned then by the People's Moving and Storage
and the Anchor Realty Company, both headed by Russell Howard, was
engulfed in flames.
The main difficulty in controlling this fire was the inadequate water
supply. Fire Chief Thomas E. Duckworth explained why the 1969 fire was
so much more devastating than the one in 1961. He said that the water
in the Mill Trench in 1961 was high and supplied the firemen with
thousands of gallons of water, while in September of 1969 it was nearly
dry. He went on to say, "I had the equipment, but what could I do? When
I put more lines on, I just robbed from one to give to another.”
From a firefighter’s point of view
Bob Bouthillier, a Warwick fire fighter since 1966, remembered the
blaze well. He recalled that it was unsafe to enter the buildings as
the roof collapsed and the "cave-in" factor made it impossible to
enter. Bob explained that old factories were constructed in such a
manner that fire would cause the wooden interior to "cave-in," or
collapse, while leaving the exterior walls standing. This made it
possible to re-build many mills in the mid-19th century when it was
practically impossible to extinguish the fires with the primitive
methods available. While this was considered a necessary feature in the
19th century, it proved detrimental later when fire-fighting skills had
progressed and, without the "cave-in" factor, some of the buildings
might have been saved.
In addition to the construction hazards, the 1969 fire was fed by a
variety of materials that were stored by 19 of the firms that used the
V-shaped complex. These materials caused the fire to burn hotter and
were the reason for the great damage to both the inner and outer walls.
Cranes had to be used to knock down weakened walls to make it possible
to enter the area. Even after the fire was extinguished, a 24-hour
watch on the complex was necessary to guard against new flare-ups and
water was poured on the smoldering site for a number of days.
This spectacular fire destroyed nearly all the buildings of the once
powerful and prosperous Apponaug Co. and removed nearly all visible
reminders of the importance of the textile mill in the area. What
little remains, however, can help us to recapture the significance of
the mills in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the
prosperity of the mills meant the prosperity of Apponaug.
The 21st Century optimism
The future of the Apponaug Mill Complex site is now in the hands of the
Sawtooth Associates LLC. In an interview with the Warwick Beacon in
August 2004, Brandon Bell, president of the company, said, “It’s a work
in progress. A lot of people passing by would call it an eyesore as it
is now.” He added, “There is potential here, you just need to find it.”
All of Apponaug is waiting.