WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The fire at a fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem has been burning for almost 72 hours as of Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters had pulled back from the blaze because of the threat of an explosion, but crews are now at the site and working to control the fire.
"The threat of an explosion was greatly diminished overnight," Fire Chief Trey Mayo said Thursday. But the evacuation zone, which was a 1-mile radius around the plant, was reduced to 660 feet around the facility at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The fire department is rotating crews of 12 firefighters working at the plant to control the fire, Mayo said. It's less of an active fire now, but there are still large piles of burning material, including ammonium nitrate, he said.
It's that ammonium nitrate that has worried firefighters the most and pushed them back to a mile from the plant. Under the wrong conditions, the 600 tons of ammonium nitrate at the plant could cause a massive explosion.
"If we’re there a week, it won’t surprise me," Mayo said. He said crews are making a "calculated daytime effort to move across the site."
"We are not running bulldozers through the plant," he said. "This is a very meticulous thing."
He said they are making progress on the fire, but that "doesn’t mean danger has been completely eliminated."
The rain overnight and Thursday in Winston-Salem has helped cool down the plant, but it also means there is more smoke close to the ground, making visibility harder for firefighters, Mayo said.
The smoke is also a problem for people nearby. The county warns that children and people with respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD avoid being outdoors in the smoke.
"Winds will become southerly, Thursday afternoon, and pick up in strength through Friday morning resulting in a smoke plume blowing north of the plant fire," the county said in an alert Friday.
"Residents in the area and around the plant should expect to see an ebb and flow" of smoke in the coming days, Mayo said.
Fire officials called the rain a "mixed blessing" Thursday, because it can help control the fire, but it can also cause runoff from the site and potentially pollute nearby streams.
Mayo said the Winston Weaver Company has two engineering firms on the site. One of the companies is installing a berm downhill of the factory to help contain pollutants in the rainwater, he said.
The fire chief said things are moving in the right direction to get the fire under control, but there is still a risk that some of the ammonium nitrate at the plant could explode.
The more time passes, the lower the risk, he said. Mayo said firefighters began operating with heavy equipment around noon Thursday and he wants to finish that work before lifting the evacuation.
"We understand that it is inconvenient," he said. "We understand the cost associated with eating out and staying at hotels."
Winston-Salem City Councilor D.D. Adams, who represents the North Ward where the plant is located, said she is working with local, state and federal officials to help figure out how to reimburse residents for the costs of the evacutaion.
"Many of these people live paycheck to paycheck," she said. "The hotel bills are killing them."
On Wednesday the city said Winston Weaver pledged $100,000 to reimburse the community for the fire, but it's not clear where that money will go and if it will be used to cover residents' expenses.
The fire chief said he stands by his decision to evacuate the area.
"I can go to bed and sleep for the rest of my life being confident in the decisions we’ve made this week," he said, tearing up at the end of a news conference Thursday. "I’m confident in those decisions and proud of those folks."
"We have a lot to be proud here in this community," he said.