The fire at Herdman's Mill re-ignited on Saturday morning Environment Minister Alex Attwood has vowed to help "save and protect" the listed Tyrone mill badly damaged in a fire on Saturday.Fire crews battled for hours to contain the blaze which broke out at Herdman's Mill in Sion Mills in the early hours.
Fire crews were first alerted at about 0120 BST but the blaze later re-ignited and burned for several hours.
Mr Attwood said he would work to save the mill which featured in the BBC television series Restoration in 2003.
Last week, Ulster Bank appointed a receiver to the building.
The move ended more than 170 years of ownership for the Herdman family.
The former owners of the historic mill said they feared it may have been completely destroyed by the fire.
Forty fire officers were needed to deal with the blaze which was brought under control in the late afternoon.
Fire-fighters, who used two high-reach appliances while battling the blaze, are expected to remain at the scene until late on Saturday.
Mr Attwood said: "Our built heritage is a vital cog in our tourism industry and this fire greatly concerns me.
"The fire at the Mill damages a jewel in our built heritage... I have already raised my concern with my staff at the Environment Agency and other officials about the increase in fires at important at-risk buildings this year and we are urgently examining what needs to be done."
Senior fire officer Mark Deeney said: "It was a quite difficult fire to fight. Because of the previous fires, the building was very structurally unsound.
'Access problems'"We have had a minor collapse at the rear of the building overnight because of the previous fire.
"You can also see the fire has spread into the roof area which provides us with problems for access."
It had been hoped to redevelop the 60-acre site which dominates the village.
Celia Ferguson, a member of the Herdman family and a trustee of the Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust, said she was "watching the most important industrial building in Ireland being destroyed by fire".
She said it was because of the "neglect of funders to do anything with the building".
She added: "It's a tragedy not just for Sion Mills, but for the whole northwest."
Strabane District Council chairman Brian McMahon said there was a "palpable sense of loss in the local community" at the devastation.
The Sinn Fein councillor, speaking from the scene, said: ""While the full extent of the damage will not become clear for a few days, this fire has undoubtedly delivered a setback in the efforts to redevelop the mill and the 60-acre site it stands on for the socio-economic benefit of the people of this area.
"However, this setback will hopefully reinforce everyone's determination to forge ahead."
Herdman's Mill, the last wet-spinning flax mill in Ireland, was opened during the potato famine.
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