Warwick ice rink to open Thursday

WARWICK, R.I. – A Warwick ice rink which had closed following a Zamboni fire will reopen ahead of schedule, Mayor Scott Avedisian said in a press release.

Thayer Arena will reopen Thursday for its regular practice schedule. General public skating will be open Friday from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m.

“We know that the rink’s closure has been an inconvenience for many of our teams, particularly with ice time at a premium throughout the state, so to be able to open several days earlier than we thought is great news,“ Avedisian said. “This was a wonderful effort on the part of our employees and the cleaning company’s crews.“

The blaze at the arena broke out Oct. 12 while a rink worker was driving a Zamboni.

The worker noticed the machine was smoking, and then jumped off it as it caught fire. No injuries were reported.

Flames reached about 30 feet into the air and melted some of the ice. The arena’s roof also suffered some smoke damage.