Abandoned Mill Complex Fire | Rhode Island | Pawtucket

In March 2020, a massive mill complex in Pawtucket, Rhode Island burned down in one of the biggest fires of the past decade.
Filmed/Edited by Jason Allard
My website: www.UncomSenseMedia.com
Follow me on Instagram: @Uncomsense
Drone: DJI Spark Fly More Combo
Main Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV w/ Canon 28mm f/1.8
Editing: Final Cut Pro X w/ custom plugins
The heat from this fire was so intense that the National Weather Service out of Boston detected the heat register on its thermal imaging that night. That means this thing was HOT.
At least 2,000 degrees fahrenheit, which would warp and melt the metals in the the mill. For scale, this is not as hot as the surface of the sun, so you’re welcome for that.
The Conant Thread complex is part of a 50-acre industrial district that dates back to about 1868, when the first of a series of mills was built. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and has been targeted for redevelopment in recent years. This complex had a pretty bright future - most of the abandoned places I visit are hanging in financial and ownership limbo with no clear plans. BUT, this spot was being redeveloped into lofts, artists spaces, and retails storefronts.
I knew I had to go see the remains at this point, since places like this are usually demolished shortly after because of safety concerns.
Mills are pretty common in New England…since it is the home of the industrial revolution. I’ve seen a few abandoned mills like these burn down over the years. For example, here’s another notorious one that burned down in 2011. The city smelled like smoke days later.
But this is the first time I saw the destruction from this point of view…and at this scale. This is a huge complex that went up in flames.
What’s left of these buildings looks like they can fall down at any time - there are heat cracks everywhere. It honestly looks like a war zone…but I think the most eye opening part about this is the the twisted and warped steel and iron that you can see throughout these remains. I mean…that’s a lot of heat for these fires to be putting out.
Again…I can’t give enough credit to the firefighters who handled this - it’s amazing that this was contained only to these abandoned mills. It’s still obviously terrible because of their potential, but this could have been a whole lot worse.
Abandoned New England
Abandoned from Above
Urban Exploration
Jason Allard
New England
History
Urbex
Mills
Pawtucket
Providence
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Abandoned Places near me
Abandoned places RI
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Industrial Revolution

[@JasonAllard]

UPDATE (4/17/20): Both the cause and origin of the roaring fire that ravaged a million square feet of vacant mill buildings on the Pawtucket and Central Falls line last month were ultimately undetermined, according to Pawtucket Fire Chief William Sisson.

[@bradhanson4803]

Arson

[@johngomes16]

Half these mill fires are undetermined what caused the fire. Or homeless people are blamed. But it's most likely arson but either the owner or developers. Think about it. Union Wadding, Greenhalgh Mill( which also set the houses in the neighborhood ablaze as well. Conant Street and Paramount Mill, among others. I was going for my morning walk when I seen the smoke and was like what is that. I live about 10 minutes and went to see what was on fire and was stunned to see Paramount ablaze. Amazing drone footage. I'm a photographer that also into shooting abandoned places or events like this. I tried to get some aftermath pictures, but it was already fenced up. Great videos. Enjoyed the history and experience of seeing this fire

[@skycowboy_7391]

Drug addicts living in there lighting fires to stay warm

[@wes5150.]

@@skycowboy_7391 ......and the brain dead homeless trying to stay warm.(like usual)

[@jamessantos5439]

it was planned to have all that work done to it, but all the buildings would have cost way to much for the owner to clean and have the buildings put up to code! whats the next best thing!?!?!? ARSON!

[@maggiebonnet7695]

As someone who is a New England native, I am glad I found your channel! Amazing videos with great history!

[@roadweary5252]

Woonsocket, Pawtucket, Burrillville all had massive mills that have burned down over the years - and as mentioned, once they get going they burn for days. Thanks for another great video, Jason!

[@Apprentice_of_the_Leonine]

What is it about Rhode Island that causes so many abandoned mills to burn? Is the state cursed against them?

[@charlesq6097]

​@@Apprentice_of_the_Leonine the old mills had gears that needed to be oiled frequently. Linseed oil was used to keep the gears turning. Oil dripped on the floor nonstop. For years. It was an incredible fire hazard.

[@domn415]

So very sad to see yet another historic mill complex burn.......and even a greater loss because this complex was slated for redevelopment :-( I have seen several much smaller mill fires in Ma... Ware and Brookfield.... Very sad to watch... Thank you for another great video... Keep healthy and safe in your travels Jason!

[@necrailvideos8227]

Back at it again with another great video! I used to live in Pawtucket. It was terrible but luckily no one perished!

[@tfrancis2613]

Wow - super story telling and sweet visuals. Thanks!

[@JasonAllard]

Glad you liked it!

[@tonypepperoni9954]

I'm neighbors of Will and Tater and the images I saw that night when waking up at 3 am that morning have scarred me. I just always think how my building was so close to going up in flames. Cool footage, they have been demolishing it the past couple days so just in time

[@JasonAllard]

Tonypepperoni99 Tater has a big fan club! I’m glad everyone was alright, seriously amazing work by the firefighters. I didn’t realize how close your building was when I heard the news.

[@TheBlindPhotographer1]

I can’t get over your videos, I’m really enjoying them. You can clearly see all the hard work you put into them, and I also love how you go in depth with the history of the locations. Well done!

[@jamesbranco92]

Thank you for sharing this, I worked there for the development company back in 2011 and was responsible for keeping the heat on in the winter for the sprinklers. Walking through those buildings back then you could feel the history and the sheer size of the buildings really doesn’t transfer to video well . Brought back a lot of memories.

[@jblyon2]

I live in a mill converted to apartments in RI. I take comfort in the fact that the place has a ton of sprinklers (10 in my 1 BR apartment alone), a massive pump to keep them going, and a generator to keep the pump going.

[@JimHendrickson]

Nice photography Jason. Thanks for showing us before the wreckage gets cleared away. When the Woonsocket mill burned we could see the smoke from Ladd Observatory in Providence. It's really sad that we lost these beautiful and well-engineered 19th century buildings. They'll most likely be replaced by cheaply built structures that lack character and charm. What I would like to see are the remnants of the wood beams in the building. They must have been massive, and to see the dendrochronology you could find how old the trees were and perhaps even where they were harvested from. You just won't see that in modern buildings.

[@stephal8300]

Awesome video. I live in Central Falls and I remember opening my bedroom curtain and the sky was red. I live about 5-7 minutes from there. A very scary night for sure

[@rckblykitn]

I live probably a mile or two from here and I have no idea how I don't remember this!! I have maybe a vague, hazy memory of seeing it on the news but I definitely don't remember it being this severe. Wow.

[@AeolusCE07]

Growing up in Central Falls and Bike riding around most of the neighboring towns I'm so glad I found your youtube channel. You went into most places that my friends would want to go explore but we never had the courage nor legal means to do so. hope to run into you one day because we all know how little Rhody is :)

[@explorenewengland5954]

Great footage, we saw the smoke from this fire in the distance on our way to work. Very sad.

[@JasonAllard]

The remains were still smoking in some spots when I visited a week later. Must have been unreal to see it as it was happening, even from a distance

[@jeffsmith2022]

Great video. I think back to years ago when these mills employed hundreds of workers in the area...

[@DuncanSmith]

love the Gaussian blur you added around the edges

[@Mpkev]

Very sad! I remember when this happened. Nice to see it from your perspective. Thank You!!

[@the.remnant__]

Awesome video! That was a wild one to work at. Pieces of charred wood the size of baseballs were found miles away as far as Rehoboth, MA. It looked like a meteor shower of burning embers raining down over houses that were 5-6 blocks away. Fire departments had the fire controlled to where you saw the damage by around 8am (fire came in around 3:30am), but were there for a week afterwards controlling what was burning. I for one hate the hero worship that first responders get, but this event I'll admit, we all deserve a pat on the back for preventing what could have been catastrophic for Pawtucket and Central Falls.

[@JasonAllard]

Glad you liked it and THANKS for you and your crew's work there. Seriously, this fire really showed how a well organized group for first responders makes all the difference. The fact that ONLY the vacant buildings were affected and no one was hurt is insane. I tried not to fawn too much but it's really impressive.

[@frankb5693]

So sad, thanks Jason for documenting this . BTW, Ellie is a cutie and I like those Vans you’re wearing...they look huge!

[@JasonAllard]

Haha I'll let Ellie know she has a new fan. She did that bit in ONE TAKE - what a professional

[@dalcassian56]

I remember this from the news. I was a volunteer firefighter years ago and we were sent to a mill fire years ago in Olneyville, right next to the highway. We spent most of the night making sure it didn't jump to the nearby buildings. When these things burn, there is little that can stop it.

[@carolyn6689]

Wow! Seems like yesterday that this happened .I remember looking out my kitchen window and seeing the sky all lit up orange and yellow.My view is overlooking the historic graveyard off of Londsdale heading in the direction of Lincoln.It looked so close ,at first I thought it was in the graveyard.

[@amandajean7738]

I can't believe I never seen these burnt out mills. I drive past these areas frequently.

[@michealridenoour5320]

Nice work well done!

[@tim850csi]

Wow - I don't remember hearing about this and I live in Boston - Must not have been paying attention what with the initial lockdown happening. Uggh. Such a tragedy to loose these buildings. They literally don't make them like they used to and every time we lose one it's another piece of New England history gone.

[@Monsicorn]

I live in Central Falls and I was up at 3am. At 3am they the power turned off which was confusing to me because there wasn't a storm. I decided to just go to bed but for some reason I just couldnt sleep because I was anxious, but without any real cause. About two hours of lying in bed later I got up to get a snack only find my family all standing in the hall and for my uncle to say we had to evacuate. We lived about 6 blocks from the mill complex and wjen I went outside it looked and felt like I had entered hell. The whole sky was bright orange and it was so bright it could have been day time. There was ash and ember floating in the air and the heat was oppressive. Thankfully it had rained the night previous so none of the embers were catching. We ended up packing up our essentials (meds and pets) and drove down to Japonica street. Even from that distance it looked like the world was ending. We went home at around 7:30 that morning and the fire still wasnt fully out. We talked to a firefighter who was directing people and his theory as to what started it was a drug addict dropping a lit cigarette or a match. I can confirm the entire city smelled like smoke for weeks. All of my bedding stank of smoke even though we left all the doors and windows closed. Thw scariest thing about these mill fires is that they're so easy to start and so hard to put out. The reason they're so easy to start is that Pawtucket and Central Falls have a lot of textile mills. These textile mills had lots of textile machines that needed to be oiled frequently and the excess oil soaked into the wood floor of the mills. Since all but two of these mills aren't being used the oil soaked floors have never been replaced. One spark and they go up like a firework on the 4th of July.

[@caseyhayes1525]

It’s crazy how it was never reported that a care taker lived on this property and thankfully woke up and got out but he lost everything he owned, including all his machinery.

[@UTubemar25]

Going your channel. Incredible. I know plenty of these places growing up in RI on your channel. Wild. These mill fires had oil soaked wooden floors. I believe this complex was Conant St. also ran into Pine St. I worked at Paramount Greeting Cards during college I believe this was the complex?

[@buddy8225]

Such beautiful old buildings gone. Sad. RIP Pawtucket Mills.😭

[@timperley69]

I work 3rd shift 2 miles away and could see the flames and smoke, i took a break and got in my car around 4 am and got about a block away from this and it was horrendous. I also live in Central Falls about half a mile from this area.

[@2eyeluvmac2]

Great video.

[@gfmeekins]

A great video on a sad subject.

[@elaineholleran8814]

I worked there for 8 years in the 80's Paramont Cards. I have walked through that whole building. So sad.

[@ladhinsdhckjj]

Nice video bro you barely see good content like this from around here 👌🏽

[@lmyrski8385]

In my experience, buildings like that don't just burn down on their own.

[@richardpchaseii5084]

Actually; those oil-soaked floors are just a bon-fire waiting to spontaneously combust. But I tend to agree with you: there was probably a human element involved in the initial ignition.

[@markdibiasio7700]

You have the nicest visuals ever. I am a teacher in Rhode Island and would love to chat with you and work something out

[@tygeron3145]

You could smell the smoke for at least a month

[@loloberry5932]

That’s awful, great construction quality that would have been beautiful when remodeled.

[@Pineappleparty]

The mill not to far from me burned down about twelve years ago not to far from there in Massachusetts. It was pretty scary.

[@owensweetland342]

The old adage "too much fire too soon" is a clear indicator of arson. What a coincidence ALL the buildings burned. So, my question is, what was planned for this property? Who was interested in this property? There lies your answer

[@hibiscushoney3759]

Great questions. Crossed my mind too.

[@owensweetland342]

Obviously suspicious.

[@DarkerImageTV]

Aleays great content... Very sad and frustrating that this happened.. I'm guessing homeless maybe set a fire to keep warm.. I would love to colab with you some time.. Keep it up dude..

[@angelmorales3308]

Hi I saw your video of fire in Pawtucket and central falls just to get into perspective I live in Providence RI near McDonald's on north main street I court photos and video of the fire from my 12th floor apartment it looked like a crazy torch from my view the smoke was all black and I live a few miles from that fire I was Shaked seeing it

[@sonnysolan3327]

Great shots !!!!!!!!! Do you mind if I use some footage on a project i'm working on ? will give you full credit! thanks !

[@franklandaverde5642]

I think i saw ur drone when u were recording this because i live a few streets down from there

[@preshisify]

thank you ☕ crazy embers size of a baseball as far as in rehobeth and fire could be seen from the braga bridge, or raining from the sky in middle of the night, still lit and bright, buildings blocks away said they could feel the heat and thought it was daytime, it used to be the paramount cards building, like hallmark cards

[@nickwalsh8818]

awesome video man!

[@sharongagnist6428]

I remember the mill fire 2011.... I was walking up s main st woonsocket, ri @ 7:25 that night and I thought I smelled smoke but I didn't know for sure... they took down what had not collapsed...

[@---complex---7274]

I live so close to the mill and thank god I didnt get the fire at my house good luck and also why does this kinda feel like the worlds trade center

[@CCL0286]

what? no it doesnt. and if ypu live close to there youre in the hood doing nothing with your life

[@nathanbasset]

The Industrial Revolution didn’t even start in the United States! Even the second Industrial Revolution started in Germany!

[@johnhiram1207]

I worked for Health Tex in the 70s on Conant street in one of the buildings. Sad to see what happened.

[@tabbyp4754]

Jason - are you from Rhode Island? I love your videos!

[@JasonAllard]

Born and raised and thank you!

[@tabbyp4754]

@@JasonAllard what part!? Woohoo! I am from Cranston (Edgewood), and still in Edgewood. But adopted here from FL when I was 6. I wish the Ladd School wasn't demolished, that would have been a great "abandoned from above" video. Also, if you haven't heard of Atlas Obscura, it's a great site that names all the unique sites of cities all over the world. One of my favorites.

[@garymckee8857]

Looks like Tokyo after a Le May B 29 strike.

[@lindatavella7267]

Those buildings were owned by the slumlord who owns the building I currently live in. He is known for having fires pop up when he doesn't get his way. I'd be curious to know if they were denied a permit or a zoning in the months preceding or lost tax credits. Google Lance Jay Robbins and you'll find my channel and articles dating back to the very early 80's on his unrepentant and truly evil ways. Great video; the drone footage is spectacular.

[@joebarefoot]

i used to work there .

[@taylaburns4904]

THIS MAKES ME SO SAD ):

[@jacobhyman6576]

I live right near here

[@williambushee9446]

When that fire happened I was living right across from it right around the corner and technically speaking, and I’ve actually been inside the building before the fire happened at least one of them there was a bunch of them. They were just a bunch of paper mills with a lot of paper, and everything was kind of deteriorating and fall apart, you had to watch where you really stepped I’m pretty sure a couple of friends of mine have pictures of the inside of the building. I know on one of my old phones if I could find it I have pictures of inside the building and how it looked because I exploded for a Bandan exclamation channel that I was doing that never really got anywhere on KZbin so there’s a lot of places in Rhode Island that I wanna go to and I’ve been to including some abandon cities in Smithfield there’s actually a place in Smithfield that I’ve been to where there’s a Bandan buildings in the woods and there’s one place I don’t know how far into the woods it is but it’s a seller to a house that has old school tools in it that only me and two other people know about

[@NewEnglandDukes]

does anybody remember the mill fire in pawtucket from 2005?

[@sanfranman4919]

The old wooden floors are soaked with machine oil.

[@kbhaze6862]

I have some great videos from that day.

[@jeremyscungio16]

I live in Cranston and I didn't hear anything of this

[@terryciavola2251]

Sad.....

[@lovelyjustine4ever100]

Ellie😍

[@richardpchaseii5084]

That could have been a lot of affordable-housing. I hope there weren't folks who benefited from questionable insurance pay-outs on those properties!

[@bapjap]

It’s funny but scary. My old apartment was literally around the corner over there. Did they ever find out what was the cause? Arson?

[@JasonAllard]

The cause is still under investigation right now

[@jader8214]

Can i go in there? Or not?

[@fire58372001]

Big fires like this are easy, surround & drown. No one goes inside.

[@151CHAVIN]

Fires don't just happen this could be a combination of two different things either homeless or kids started a small fire within the complex or more then likely the property developers realised the true cost of converting these into living habitation! Being listed the only way is to burn it to the ground and start fresh!!! Prime Square footage of land is a gold mine to old and grumbling asbestos ridden buildings! It happens a awful lot over here in England! Abandoned buildings don't just spontaneously combust

[@tclucke]

Easier to develop the area now.

[@JackAndrew222]

My dad was at the fire

[@candievermeulen9858]

Oh so that's what happened here I saw it today it's now vacant

[@sniperpro716]

They said it was someone cause the fire and I was there around 330 it made my power go out

[@briansmith-l1q]

and now it's an eye sore , get rid of it

[@lburbo23]

Rats with matches.

[@CCL0286]

meth lab blew up