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Fire breaks out at controversial Providence scrap metal yard. What we know.

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Fire breaks out at controversial Providence scrap metal yard. What we know.


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PROVIDENCE – Firefighters on Thursday morning were still at the scene of a fire that broke out late Wednesday night at an Allens Avenue scrap metal operation that has been the focus of a long-running legal dispute with state authorities. 

Crews with the Providence Fire Department were called to the riverfront site of Rhode Island Recycled Metals at 11:35 p.m. Wednesday for a fire that had started in a 100-foot by 100-foot pile of scrap, according to Fire Chief Derek Silva.  

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He said they extinguished the majority of the fire overnight but were still at the property at 434 Allens Ave. in the morning, working with Recycled Metals employees to break apart the metal pile and ensure no material was still burning. 

Staff from the state Department of Environmental Management were called to the scene and determined that air pollution and runoff into the Providence River were not an issue, according to Silva. 

“We expect to be on scene for a few more hours,” Silva said in an email. “Fortunately, no one was injured.” 

The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

Scrap yard has been at the center of recent controversy

Recycled Metals most recently made headlines in March when the Providence Board of Licenses ordered the business to shut down for failing to have what the city says is the necessary license to operate.  

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The company argues that it has the relevant state licenses and doesn’t need the city license. 

It’s just the latest chapter in Recycled Metals’ fight with authorities that has stretched on for more than a decade.  

Recycled Metals went into business in 2009, when it got the job of salvaging the Russian submarine Juliett 484, which had once served as the set of a Harrison Ford movie and, until it sank in a nor’easter, a floating museum in Providence’s Collier Point Park.   

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The company had the submarine towed to the waters off its 12-acre property and soon brought in other deteriorating vessels. 

But DEM inspectors soon raised concerns that the business was discharging potentially contaminated stormwater into the Providence River and accused the company of other violations. 

After the company failed to institute stormwater controls and clean up the site, the DEM joined with the Attorney General’s office to file suit in state Superior Court. 

While there has been recent progress to improve the property, there is still a long way to go. 

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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Rhode Island 18-year-old arrested in beach stabbing as hundreds of teens packed area

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Rhode Island 18-year-old arrested in beach stabbing as hundreds of teens packed area


A Rhode Island teenager who was out on bail for a gun charge was charged Friday in connection with the stabbing of three people as hundreds of teens crowded the beach

Willy Medina, 18, was identified as a suspect in the stabbing that broke out at Narragansett Town Beach just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Narragansett Police Department.

Medina is accused of slashing three beachgoers as the rowdy crowd went into a frenzy, according to video obtained by WJAR.

The three victims were hospitalized with minor stab wounds.

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Willy Medina, 18, a resident of Pawtucket, was taken into custody by the Rhode Island State Police on May 22, 2026.

The Rhode Island State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Medina in his hometown of Pawtucket and charged him on one count of felony assault, Chief Kyle Rekas said.

Medina was arraigned Friday in the 4th District Court and held on a bail violator. He was also ordered to have no contact with minors, WPRI reported.

Officials did not release a motive in the stabbing, as the investigation is ongoing.

Medina was out on bail at the time for a shooting in Pawtucket back in April.

Police allege Medina and another 18-year-old were part of a larger crowd when a disturbance broke out and a gunshot was fired off, striking a parked car, according to WJAR.

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Police search the Narragansett Town Beach after a stabbing on May 19, 2026. WPRI/YouTube

Medina was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, firing in a compact area, vandalism and disorderly conduct.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s stabbings, Narragansett Police arrested two men in the public beach’s parking lot on charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

Hours before the stabbing, 20 miles away in Middletown, RI, approximately 1,200 teens overran Second Beach on the Sachuest Bay, the Middletown police said.

Several people between the ages of 17 and 19 were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer.

Ronan Pinkham, an 18-year-old from Massachusetts, was arrested after he allegedly struck a Newport police officer with his car in the parking lot as he attempted to flee.

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A fight broke out as hundreds of teens swarmed the Narragansett Town Beach in Rhode Island, on May 19, 2026. NBC 10 WJAR/YouTube

Pinkman admitted to driving under the influence before he was arrested and charged with felony assault and DUI.

Illegal teen takeovers have plagued popular shopping centers and beaches in several states in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day Weekend.

Several hundred teens and young adults illegally took over a popular boardwalk in Long Branch, New Jersey, on Tuesday, leading to several arrests of out-of-towners.

Police in Delaware arrested four Delaware State University students for leading a booze-fueled takeover of Rehoboth Beach that prompted a heavy police presence in the popular Atlantic town.

Xander Nicholl, 19, Angelin Clauvil, 21, Eric Barnett, 21, and 22-year-old Keyon Scott are all facing charges relating to facilitating a riot, as well as conspiracy in the second degree.

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Remains identified as World War II pilot from Rhode Island

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Remains identified as World War II pilot from Rhode Island


The Defense of POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Friday that a U.S. Army Air Force pilot from Rhode Island killed in World War II was located.

The agency said 2nd Lt. Robert J. Barrat, 20, of Woonsocket, was accounted for on April 30.

According to the organization, Barrat piloted a B-17G “Flying Fortress” bomber in 1945.

On Feb. 9,1945, witnesses reported seeing his aircraft collide with another aircraft during a bombing mission to Lutzkendorf, Germany.

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The aircraft was then seen hitting the ground, killing eight of the 9 crew members onboard.

After the end of World War II, the American Graves Registrations Command began working to recover missing American personnel in Europe.

In 1947, members recovered eight sets of remains from marked burials in the Eisenberg Civilian Cemetery.

The remains were transferred to the Central Processing Point at Neuville-en-Condroz, Belgium for analysis.

Members identified two sets of remains. The remaining six were identified as the collective remains of Barrat and five of his crew members.

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The remains were then buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

In Oct. 1991, a German citizen reported finding the crash site and recovered debris from the aircraft, including two inscribed rings.

The debris was turned over to the U.S. Army Memorial Affairs Activity Europe in Landstuhl, Germany and then to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

In 2024, the remains were re-examined for further analysis.

Scientists said they used anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify Barrat’s remains.

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According to the University of Rhode Island, he attended Rhode Island State College (RISC) in Sept. 1941 with the class of 1945.

Barrat left college during his second year and enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in Nov. 1942.

He was posthumously cited for Gallantry in Action and Bravery and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Barrat will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 27.



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17-year-old sent to hospital after pedestrian crash in Woonsocket

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17-year-old sent to hospital after pedestrian crash in Woonsocket


The Woonsocket Police Department said a 17-year-old was sent to the hospital after a pedestrian crash on Park Avenue.

The department said the juvenile’s injuries were non-life-threatening.

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The vehicle involved in the crash fled the scene but was later located and brought to the department for processing, and an individual was being detained.



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