
6,000 urged to evacuate as North Carolina fertilizer plant fire threatens an ammonium nitrate explosion
CNN
A large fire burning at a fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is threatening an explosion of ammonium nitrate as officials urge the evacuation of 6,000 people within a mile of the site, including some students at Wake Forest University.
"Right now, the fire is still active, and there's still potential for explosion. We're asking all the citizens to evacuate the area for a 1-mile radius around it," Winston-Salem Fire Department Battalion Chief Patrick Grubbs said early Tuesday at a news conference.
"We have trucks, fire trucks going down every road on the (public address) system. We're going door to door in some places and hitting target communities trying to get everyone out of the area," Grubbs said, adding that sunrise will reveal poor air quality and people should only call 911 if "you are experiencing an emergency."