North Carolina Fertilizer Plant Fire Forces Thousands to Evacuate

An explosion and fire at a North Carolina fertilizer plant has forced thousands of nearby residents to evacuate, as officials warned that chemicals at the site could cause further eruptions.

Local news outlets reported that the fire at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant, not far from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, began Monday night. Authorities asked everyone within a mile of the site to leave. That includes about 6,500 people in 2,500 homes.

No injuries had been reported by Tuesday.

Firefighters had pulled back from the scene after trucks could not flow enough water to be certain that the water was enough to prevent further chemical detonations, but left an unmanned truck to pump water on part of the site, fire officials told North Carolina TV news stations. Authorities were also flying drones over to assess the fire.

About 90 firefighters, along with other emergency responders, fought the fire for about two hours after it was discovered around 7 p.m. Monday, but they had to retreat because of the large amount of ammonium nitrate at the site, Winston-Salem Fire Chief Trey Mayo told reporters.

Use of Fertilizer Behind Explosions, Fires Declines Due to High Risks

Mayo said that an estimated 500 tons of the combustible chemical, used in fertilizer, were housed at the plant and another 100 tons were in a rail car nearby. That is more ammonium nitrate than was present at a 2013 Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people, most of them emergency personnel.

Officials warned of extensive smoke and poor air quality in the city of about 250,000, and said that controlling the fire could take some time. Matthew Smith, a hazardous material expert with a regional state task force, said the gases released by the blaze are considered more of an irritant than something that could seriously harm someone, unless the persons have an underlying lung condition.

The fire is the second at a major commercial facility in North Carolina in the last five weeks. Just before Christmas, a massive blaze destroyed most of a sprawling QVC distribution center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, shutting down a major employer in the area.

One person was killed in that fire.

In 2011, a fire destroyed much of the Halifax Fertilizer Co. site in Enfield, North Carolina.