June 9th was a hot Summer day. The heat from the fire was intense. Everyone watching the fire was sweating bullets. It seemed like forever until the fire department started spraying water. When the East side wall collapsed it created mighty thud. A huge bright flame rose, and wave of heat hit the spectators. Over the next 5 hours the city watched as more than 100 firefighters from 19 departments fought the fire.
The unnamed youth, 14yrs old at the time, admitted to setting the fire. He was found guilty of the crime, and remanded to the custody of the State until age 18.
The National Vulcanized Fiber Co already owed the city over $1.8M in back taxes for the Parsons Mill. Mayor Sullivan traveled to Delaware 2 months earlier with a city lawyer to file claims against the company in bankruptcy court. After the fire the city wanted $4M for the back taxes and cleanup of the site. A representative for National Vulcanized promised the company would "move very quickly" with the cleanup. At the same time the company filed a motion in Federal Bankruptcy court to have all of Holyoke's claims against them dismissed.
Read more about National Vulcanized Fiber and its owners at the time of the fire.
