The Informer: Lake Charles Rice Mill explosion ends saga that began in 1890s
Published 5:56 am Saturday, March 8, 2025
The intensity of the scorching heat drove American Press photographers and reporters away from the scene as camera cases began melting at a 200-foot distance. (Burl Vincent / American Press Archives)
This was the scene at the height of an April 26,1984, fire that destroyed the historic Lake Charles Rice Mill. (Burl Vincent / American Press Archives)
The inferno that consumed the Lake Charles Rice Mill on April 26, 1984, was the second mammoth blaze at the 40-acre site on the Calcasieu River in north Lake Charles. In 1924, a fire of unknown origins burned down the original mill, a loss set at $750,000. (Burl Vincent / American Press Archives)
Lake Charles Fire Chief Algie Breaux said the fire was so hot that metal nozzles couldn’t be used so water guns were set up sending large streams of water into the burning dryer and onto the connecting building. (Burl Vincent / American Press Archives)
Winds of up to 18 mph caused headaches for firefighters who “sometimes couldn’t shoot a straight stream of water into the flames because the wind would force the water back in the opposite direction,” according to the April 26, 1984, American Press. (Burl Vincent / American Press Archives)
A raging fire destroyed the historic Lake Charles Rice Mill on North Kirkman Street, engulfing the central warehouse and a rice dryer in flames on April 26, 1984, and forcing the evacuation of more than 200 families from their homes.
The seven-story facility was gutted by fire when a 440-volt fuse box exploded, triggering a massive fire in the 59-year-old building, according to that day’s front page of the American Press. It was a workman at the mill who was returning from his lunch break who witnessed the initial explosion and alerted firefighters.
Sixty firefighters manning seven units from the Lake Charles, Sulphur and Moss Bluff fire departments battled the raging flames.
Once called the largest rice mill in North America, the facility was used by Progressive Grains to dry, store and bag rice.
One of the mill’s owners, Bill Viator, told the American Press he believed a rat had crawled into the breaker box, triggering the explosion. Viator said the rice dryer was holding about 37,000 hundred-weights of bulk dry rice when the fire started. When full, the dryer held up to 300,000 hundred-weights of rice.
Lake Charles Fire Chief Algie Breaux said the fire started shortly before 1 p.m. and he estimated the fire ultimately reached temperatures of about 1,200 degrees.
The intensity of the scorching heat drove American Press photographers and reporters away from the scene as camera cases began melting at a 200-foot distance.
By 2:20 p.m. that afternoon, Lake Charles City Police feared rice dust inside the mill would ignite as heat from the burning dryer intensified and evacuated all homes and businesses within a two-block radius for nearly four hours.
“This fire is dangerous. If the dust inside ignites, it could level this entire surrounding block,” Breaux told the newspaper. “We are trying to protect the exposures by keeping them cool.”
District Fire Chief John Fontenot said firefighters used 3,500 gallons of water per minute as a high south wind helped to stir the fire more.
Breaux said the fire was so hot that metal nozzles couldn’t be used so water guns were set up sending large streams of water into the burning dryer and onto the connecting building.
Also working against the firefighters was the fact that the facility’s water sprinkler system had been turned off.
Though they “tried futilely” to switch the system on when they first arrived, Breaux said firefighters were driven back by flames.
Breaux said the sprinkler system had been shut down the previous month to replace broken pipes from the hard winter freeze but had been switched back on when the repairs were made. He said “owners are still scratching their heads” as to why the system was turned back off.
The mill was originally built in 1892 on a 40-acre tract at the north end of Kirkman Street for $10,000. The location between the Calcasieu River and Southern Pacific Railroad provided quick transportation of goods to most parts of the country.
Merchant milling — also known as the cash system — also boosted their production. Previously, the only rice mills were in and around New Orleans. There, farmers would have to pay to have their rice milled and would then sell it to “any chance buyer.”
With the cash system, Lake Charles Rice Milling Co. purchased the rice directly from the farmers and sold the finished product in bulk.
In 1924, a fire of unknown origin ripped through the mill and destroyed the plant and 70,000 bags of rice at an estimated loss of $750,000.
Built at the same location as the original, the new mill — twice the size of the original — opened its doors in November 1926. By the time it opened, the city had dredged the ship channel, making shipments to anywhere in the world possible.
The facility operated as a rice mill until about 1965, when it became strictly a drying and storage operation.
Viator, told the American Press that replacing the damaged structure and contents could cost more than $5 million — that’s about $15.1 million in today’s value.
