Multiple departments help fight fire in Woonsocket mill

A massive fire burned a Woonsocket mill overnight.

The fire, at a mill on Privilege Street, drew firefighters from departments in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The Pascoag Fire Department, Harrisville and Oakland Mapleville fire departments were among the neighboring departments to help the Woonsocket Fire Department fight the general alarm fire, according to an online post by the Pascoag Fire Department.

The Mendon, Massachusetts, Fire Department also reported responding to the fire, which it described as being in a vacant, four-story mill.

Rick Balboni, who lives about mile away, thought he heard thunder late Sunday night, but looking out a window, he realized it was a fire.

"I looked and the flames were so high, I thought was next door," Balboni said.

He heard additional explosions and the sirens of emergency vehicles. He could still smell smoke from his porch late Monday morning.

Balboni went to the scene early Monday morning and captured video of embers floating in the air and flames pouring from the building. "In the morning, it will be flat," he said in one of the videos.

He returned Monday afternoon and got more video, which showed his prediction was right. It shows that little is left of the structure except for some sections of walls; piles of bricks are scattered on the ground.

When he returned home, he noticed a burned ember, apparently from the fire, on his doorstep.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Multiple departments help fight fire in Woonsocket mill