Tom Teague, tugboat captain, took this photograph form the water of a fireboat battling the flames engulfing a Revere Sugar Refinery building at the foot of Richards Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, 1999.

For most of the 1900s, raw sugar was refined at this site. In 1915, The American Molasses Company shared the pier with a soap making company. By 1931, the sugar refining business had expanded to the entire property and was a well known Erie Basin landmark. The company was acquired by Sucrest Sugar in the 1950s and later renamed Revere. Revere went bankrupt in 1985, and by the time of the fire plant was largely neglected.  

More images by Tom Teague can be seen on his Facebook page and his book Tales from a Tugboat Captain, is available on his website and elsewhere.