Shepherd, the evacuee who felt her house shake, said she used a phone app to listen to emergency scanner traffic and heard firefighters talking about abandoning their equipment. “We woke up about 3:30 and they came through the parking lot with sirens,” McDowell said. He was taken to a shelter the city opened at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. The 68-year-old double amputee who uses a wheelchair said he was aware of the fire before he went to bed, but didn't know the urgency of the situation. Norvell McDowell, who lives less than half a mile away, was awakened early Tuesday morning to sirens and first-responders telling him to seek shelter elsewhere. “They said that, more than likely if it blows, the evacuated area will be leveled completely. “It takes a lot to spook me, and I will say I’m pretty shaken right now,” he said. Van Erp, who doesn’t have a car, said he had called a non-emergency police number to ask for a ride to a shelter and was waiting to be picked up. Richard Van Erp, who lives blocks from the fertilizer plant, said late Tuesday morning that so much smoke was billowing into his apartment complex’s parking lot that he couldn't see the cars at times. 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 they have an underlying lung condition.Ī representative from the Winston Weaver Company didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Mayo said the chemical generally needs to be in a confined space to explode, so the risk will depend on whether the material is stacked deep enough for the top layers to put enough pressure on the bottom layers.Īuthorities warned of smoke and poor air quality in the city of about 250,000. “So if that doesn’t convey the gravity of the situation and how serious folks need to take it, I don’t know how else to verbalize that,” he said. He said that is more of the chemical than was present at a deadly blast at a 2013 Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people, most of them emergency personnel. Mayo told reporters Tuesday morning that an estimated 500 tons of ammonium nitrate were housed at the plant and another 100 tons of the fertilizer ingredient were in an adjacent rail car. An unmanned fire truck was left behind to continue pumping water onto part of the site.ĭrones and a helicopter monitored the fire from above, and teams of firefighters were on standby, but they had to let the fire burn for now, the chief said. The fire quickly consumed the entire building and it collapsed. Monday, but the risk of an explosion forced them to retreat, Mayo said. The area included about 6,500 people in 2,500 homes, the Winston-Salem Fire Department said.Īt least 90 firefighters fought the fire for about 90 minutes after it was discovered at a loading dock around 7 p.m.
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Wake Forest University, most of which lies just outside the evacuation zone, canceled classes and urged students living in dormitories to stay indoors and keep windows closed. “We’ve got about a 36-hour window where that explosion potential exists,” Winston-Salem Fire Chief Trey Mayo told reporters. The city's fire chief said the fire had been “relatively static” overnight, but with 600 tons of combustible ammonium nitrate stored at the site, the risk of an explosion would remain through Wednesday. I could see the flames shooting over the trees.” I opened up my front door and the entire sky was nothing but orange.
It shook our house,” said Michelle Shepherd, who evacuated her home near the plant.
Overnight, bright orange flames and thick plumes of smoke could be seen shooting into the sky.
(AP) - An uncontrolled fire at a fertilizer plant in North Carolina forced thousands of people to evacuate as firefighters stood back Tuesday because of the danger of a large explosion.Īuthorities drove through neighborhoods and knocked on doors urging residents to leave within a one-mile radius (1.6 km) of the Winston Weaver Company fertilizer plant on the north side of Winston-Salem, where the fire started Monday night.
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