Fire ravages old Uxbridge mill

Bill Kessler, deputy chief of the Uxbridge Fire Department, was one of the few firefighters able to enter a burning mill building yesterday. It quickly became clear, he said, that the structure couldn't be saved.

"We found the source quickly, but it just moved too fast. The whole mill was full of smoke," he said.

The eight-alarm fire that began at 4:30 a.m. sent flames and smoke shooting into the sky, ravaging the three-story building of at least 350,000 square feet that housed 65 businesses.

Nine firefighters were treated and released from the hospital for minor injuries such as smoke inhalation, Uxbridge public information officer Melanie Blodgett-O'Toole said last night.

The building was still standing as of 11 p.m. as firefighters continued battling the fire, Blodgett-O'Toole said.

Uxbridge firefighters received help from more than three dozen other communities, and at one point, as many as 400 firefighters were battling the blaze, said Uxbridge Fire Chief Peter Ostroskey.

"The Uxbridge Fire Department originally thought they had the scene under control, but facing a rapidly spreading, quickly growing fire, they had to call for backup," said State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan.

The firefighters' mission turned from saving the building to containing the fire in an effort to protect lives and surrounding structures, Kessler said.

The cause of the blaze, which damaged 80 percent of the building, was under investigation.

"This is a major fire," Jim Barker, an assistant fire chief in neighboring Grafton who responded to the blaze, said at the scene. "Once one of these old mills goes up, you can pretty much forget it."

Stephen G. Maka, 64, owner of Just a Moment, a photography studio and art gallery in the Bernat Mill Complex, watched as his business burned.

"It's a total wipeout. I've been in business 37 years; everything is gone," Maka said.

Maka estimated that he had lost more than 100,000 photographs in addition to camera equipment.

State environmental officials ordered Uxbridge residents to restrict nonessential water use, concerned that the supply in town would be depleted because of the fire.

Larry Bombara, superintendent of public works in Uxbridge, said the town's water was safe to drink and bathe in, but may be slightly discolored for several days.

"Residents are under a mandatory ban for outside water use," Bombara said.

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray said the state would work with the US Small Business Administration to assist displaced companies.

In the meantime, Maka is not sure whether he will rebuild.

"I don't know if I have enough years in me," he said. "It doesn't feel like dying as much as it feels like being born again. I'm just not sure I'll feel that way tomorrow."

Globe correspondent Aubrey Gibavic contributed to this report.