Huge Fire Guts Vacant Fall River Mill

FALL RIVER (CBS) -- Firefighters in Fall River battled a stubborn four alarm fire at an old mill building in the city on Tuesday afternoon.

Thick, black smoke billowed over the densely populated area near Middle and Bay streets for nearly four hours.

Residents had a wary eye on where it was headed.

"I was concerned it was close to my home, that it would spread to my home," said Stacey Aruda.

From the moment crews arrived, with flames engulfing the vacant mill complex that once manufactured textiles, they knew it would be difficult to attack.

"It's several clusters of buildings and there were a lot of fences that were locked," said Fall River fire chief Paul Ford.

The back of the complex was also difficult to access because of thick brush. They had to find their way through the maze-like structure.

It prompted the evacuation of a neighborhood daycare, and parents complained about chaos evacuating the nearby Kuss Middle School, where fire could be seen out the windows.

"We waited 45 minutes for them to evacuate. Just letting the kids out my daughter got lost in the school," said mother Jen Sylvia.

What crews didn't know was what kind of chemicals and machinery had been stored inside the structure that was in the process of being boarded up when fire broke.

Chief Ford says teens have also been lingering around the complex at night, but so far has not determined a cause of the blaze.

Carol Rodrigues, who lives across the street said she had difficulty breathing with the potentially toxic smoke, and watched throughout the day as firefighters battled the flames.

"It was scary that it was going to come up to the house with black smoke and flames," said Rodrigues.

Chief Ford says a structure like this one "has a lot of fire potential."

Dousing the hot spots went on for hours, as firefighters met their match with the old building.

Two firefighters were hospitalized with minor injuries.

The building is owned by Duro Industries. The company started manufacturing new camouflage uniforms for troops in Afghanistan over the summer.