Explosion fears, heavy smoke linger in North Carolina city as plant continues to burn

UPDATE: The city of Winston-Salem has reduced the one-mile evacuation area around the burning Winston Weaver Fertilizer plant to 660 feet as of Feb. 3. “A smoke plume from the fire will continue to impact local air quality until the fire is extinguished,” city officials said. The original story is below.

People in one of North Carolina’s largest cities are being advised to wear a mask in public, as the noxious plume from a fertilizer plant fire continues to spread.

Video shared on Facebook shows the smoke — which smells like “spent fireworks” — is thick enough to limit visibility on roads in some parts of Winston-Salem.

“Air quality bad today! Recommend that you wear a mask! Stay Safe!” the city posted Wednesday, Feb. 2.

The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring air quality and the city reports “all levels have been in acceptable range.”

However, smoke from the smoldering Winston Weaver Fertilizer plant remains a health threat, experts say. The chemicals involved are best described as “irritants,” city officials said, and are capable of causing “sneezing, coughing, running nose, watery eyes and skin irritation.”

People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and respiratory illnesses are being told to stay indoors. And otherwise healthy people are warned to avoid “outdoor activity in and near the smoke plume.”

The plant and the volatile chemicals it stores caught fire around 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31, forcing the city to evacuate 6,500 residents within a one-mile radius. The EPA is not yet monitoring air quality inside the one-mile evacuation area, officials said.

It’s believed the plant is storing 600 tons of ammonium nitrate, which could become unstable and explode at any time, city officials said.

“There is ammonium nitrate there that is burning,” Division Chief Bobby Wade of the Winston-Salem Fire Department said at a press conference.

“There’s building construction materials that are burning. Due to the large fire, there’s multiple things burning ... It’s hard to say specifically what is still burning, but all of it is very hazardous. ... It’s unsafe for anyone to be on that site right now.”

A forecast of rain for Thursday, Feb. 3, is viewed as helpful in potentially cooling the fire, though it might also generate some chemical runoff, officials said.

It remains unclear when evacuees will be able to safely return to their homes around the plant, officials said.

Conditions at the plant did not improved overnight, which is keeping emergency responders off the scene.

Cold temperatures Tuesday into Wednesday morning also forced the smoke to settle closer to the ground, Wade said.

“We still have active burning on the scene,” he said. “So we’re going to keep that one mile radius ... The possibility of an explosion has not gone down from yesterday.”

Winston Weaver Fertilizer officials say no fatalities or injuries have been reported in connection with the fire. All 36 plant employees are accounted for, and city officials say it was a company employee who called in the initial report of the fire.

Company officials announced Feb. 2 Winston Weaver Fertilizer is donating $100,000 to reimburse agencies working with people impacted by the fire.

The cause remains unknown.

The fire remains contained to the plant site and no homes in the surrounding area have been damaged, Wade said.

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 8:57 AM with the headline "Explosion fears, heavy smoke linger in North Carolina city as plant continues to burn."