Two teens have been charged with setting the historic Victory Mills in Saratoga County on fire this weekend, and locals are still grappling with the loss and how to move forward.
Victory Mills in the Village of Victory went up in flames Saturday. The skeletal remains of the five-story facility are still smoking as fire and demolition crews prepare to take it down. The only structure left standing is a charred tower at the building’s southern end.
Tammie Mitchell is one of a handful of village residents watching demolition efforts get under way. She was one of the first to call the fire in two days earlier.
“Yeah, on Saturday when we came down, we were getting ready to leave with my grandkids and saw a plume of black smoke. Came down this direction and at that time just the center of the mill was on fire. And by the time we drove out of the parking lot after calling 9-1-1 and the fire chief Ryan Campbell, which is my nephew, telling them to get up here because the mill was on fire—by the time we got up to the back streets, Jay Street, just around the corner the flames had just started spreading left and right all the way to the end of the building. Every floor was engulfed before the fire chief got from Schuylerville to here to start activating all the other departments to come on – even before the fire whistle went off. That’s how fast this mill went up,” said Mitchell.
The plant was closed in 2000 and was listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Town of Saratoga Historian Sean Kelleher says the destruction of the plant is a loss of nearly 150 years of industrial history.
“It drew people to our community. This was a very, very large employer and it created other large employers in the area. There’s still a couple mills just across the Hudson River but this one was the initial big investment where people saw the opportunity to create these larger economic opportunities through industrial growth,” said Kelleher.
Through its life, the mill had processed textiles and cotton in the 1800s before becoming a cardboard packaging facility in the 1900s.
Village Mayor Corey Helwig has only been in office since April. He’s also a volunteer fireman. He says the hard rain Saturday helped the emergency response.
“Well, Mother Nature was on our side, I will say that. The fire department did a phenomenal job of setting up a water supply, getting as much water on the fire as we could to keep it at bay. It didn’t spread to any other neighboring places or no brushfires, no nothing. So, they did a real phenomenal job on the task that was at hand,” said Helwig.
Helwig adds that the community has rallied together in the wake of the fire.
“Every single member of the fire department was there for the fire. Most of them are local residents. The rest of the residents all reached out, many of the local business owners, many of them residents, provided food, cover, support for the fire fighters and anyone involved. Village residents helped block roads off, redirect traffic. So, it was a real community involvement with this small village of 600 or so people,” said Helwig.
Helwig says there were plans to demolish the building and redevelop the land with funding from the Empire State Development Corporation. The mayor would like to see new housing options go up once demolition is complete. The community will be able to provide input first.
“We had tried multiple times to rehab it, a bunch of things came up. So, the project was set for demolition this coming year. Obviously, this speeds up the process, you know, the concrete structure is still standing. That’s a testament to her strength, which you know in turn, in my opinion, the strength of the building represents the strength of this community,” said Helwig.
On Sunday, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office said it had charged two juveniles in connection with the fire. Both have been released. No names were released.
