Remains of Cold War-era Russian sub seen in film catch fire

The remains of a Cold War-era Russian submarine once seen in a movie starring Harrison Ford caught fire in Providence as workers were using a blowtorch to cut it up for scrap

Russian Submarine Fire (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu)

The remains of a Cold War-era Russian submarine once seen in a movie starring Harrison Ford caught fire in Providence on Tuesday morning as workers were using a blowtorch to cut it up for scrap, fire officials said.

The fire at a waterfront scrap yard sent a plume of black smoke over the city at about 9:30 a.m. but was quickly extinguished. No one was hurt.

The hull is sheathed in a 3- to 4-inch (8- 10-centimeter) layer of rubber and that's what caught fire as workers cut into it with a torch, Providence Deputy Assistant Fire Chief Steve Capracotta said.

After the Cold War, the submarine known as Juliett 484 was sold and used as a restaurant and vodka bar in Helsinki Finland and as a set for the 2002 Ford movie “K-19: The Widowmaker.”

The sub wound up in Providence because the Rhode Island-based USS Saratoga Museum Foundation bought it and opened it to the public as a floating museum in 2002.

It sank during a nor’easter in 2007 and was sold for scrap.

State environmental officials have been informed of the fire, Capracotta said.