Fire broke out at the Weaver Fertilizer Plant 4440 North Cherry Street in Winston-Salem Monday night prompting the Fire Department to issue an evacuation order for all people within one mile of the plant.
Firefighters attacked the fire at the plant for two hours, but the fire began threatening a rail car containing ammonium nitrate. At that point firefighters had to withdraw from actively fighting the fire, leaving behind an unmanned fire engine to flow water onto the fire.
Ammonium nitrate is highly explosive, and the department continues to monitor the fire as of Tuesday morning. No one has been injured in the fire and the cause is unknown.
The evacuation effects about 6,500 people and 2,500 homes that are within a mile of the plant as well as parts of the campus of Wake Forest University, the Forsyth Correctional Center and the North Hills Elementary School.
