Flames roared and smoke billowed into the hot night sky. The first call came in at around 9:30 pm Monday night for a fire at the Parsons Paper Mill at 84 Sargeant Street. Before long, the fire spread and, by midnight went to nine alarms. It was all for something Holyoke Fire Chief David LaFond says was probably intentional.

"Our arson squad is working around the clock, literally, doing surveillance down there and talking to a lot of folks in that area to get some leads on who is doing this," LaFond said.

The reason, Chief LaFond said, was because of several incidents regarding arson in the past two and a half months. Dumpsters, trash cans and trailers suddenly burst into flames and fire crews grew worried.

La Fond said the building's prior owners, National Vulcanized Fiber just packed up and left three years ago.

"It's certainly negligent on their part, in my opinion, to leave it in that open condition like that. Anybody can just get in, and we saw the end result of their negligence last night," LaFond said.

Nearby workers said it was only a matter of time before an event like Monday's fire.

"We've seen people taking wire and copper and stuff. Filling up wagons and running down the street," said Linda Rich, who works across the street from the mill.

"We always thought these buildings were eventually going to go down. But it was a shock yesterday," said Theresa Rees.

Chief LaFond said nearby businesses like the Walter Drake Company, Holyoke Gas and Electric Distribution Center, and the Old American Pad and Paper Company were in danger. Fire crews from 19 area towns eventually got the inferno under control by around midnight. But by then, the historic Holyoke landmark was nothing but rubble. Tuesday afternoon, crews began demolishing what was left. The sight was too much for Sheila Messer, who had dreamed of one day owning the old Parsons Mill.

"If I had ever won the lottery, I was going to buy that building because I thought it was so beautiful and had so much potential," Messer said.

The Holyoke Fire Department is urging anyone with information about who may have started the Parsons Paper Mill fire to come forward, by calling the Arson Reward Program at 1-800-682-9229.
Calls will remain anonymous.