Fire Breaks Out At Rocky Point

WARWICK, R.I. -- A two-alarm fire broke out Monday morning at the former Rocky Point amusement park in Warwick.

Flames engulfed a two-and-a-half story wood-frame building that overlooked Narragansett Bay.

"When we arrived, at least one-third of the building was on fire. We had the wind pushing it through the building. So, it spread through the building pretty fast," Warwick Fire Department Battalion Chief Gary Meegan said.

Firefighters battled the flames from the outside. Meegan said the building's roof collapsed a few years ago, and it was not worth the risk sending firefighters inside a building that could not be saved.

The fire sent up a billowing column of smoke that could be seen for miles, marking the spot where the Cliff House at Rocky Point once stood. The building held the administrative offices of the old amusement park, and before that a bar and nightclub, according to Meegan.

Steve Iovino was walking on the beach when he saw the smoke and called 911.

"Before you know it the whole place was engulfed ... When it first started, all you could see was some smoke and a little bit of flame. It didn't take much more than five, 10 minutes before the flames were coming out of the side of the building," Iovino said.

The Rocky Point property has been abandoned for a decade. The latest plan calls for the development of housing units.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is the court-appointed receiver and is working with the developer.

"They are proceeding with their plans as it concerns the property here. We're pleased with the way things are progressing," the SBA's Mark Hayward said.

But some neighbors are not pleased, and they are eager to see the property developed sooner rather than later.

"I hope that gets started soon. It's going to help us out a lot down here," said Tim McCabe, of Warwick.

This fire, the latest in a number over recent years, is just one more reason why neighbors don't want the property to remain abandoned. A fire in September 2004 destroyed a building known as the Big House.

Fire officials said several buildings on the property still have power going to them, including the Cliff House, which also had gas service. Officials said it's too early to know if either had anything to do with the fire.

Meegan said investigators are not calling the cause of the fire suspicious, but they are also not ruling it out.

The amusement park closed in 1995 after more than a century in operation.