North Carolina Fertilizer Plant at Risk of Blast Didn’t Have Sprinklers

(Bloomberg) -- The North Carolina fertilizer plant burning for a fourth day and at risk of exploding was likely built before mandates on fire-suppression systems and didn't have sprinklers, according to city officials.

Winston Weaver Co.'s Winston-Salem site contains ammonium nitrate, the same type of fertilizer behind deadly past explosions, including a 2020 blast that devastated Beirut's port. It also has a bigger stockpile than there was at a Texas plant that exploded in 2013, killing 15 people and damaging more than 150 structures across a 35-block area.

Industry guidelines for best practices in storing and transporting ammonium nitrate require that all newly constructed facilities are equipped with sprinklers and with enough water to last at least two hours. The Winston-Salem plant was built in 1939, when a sprinkler system likely wouldn't have been required, said Chris Murphy, acting director of Winston-Salem's Planning & Development Services Department.

Blast Still Feared at U.S. Fertilizer Plant as Fire Keeps Raging

“There was no sprinkler system,” city spokesperson Ed McNeal said in an email.

A fire inspection report from Dec. 27 said that at the time of the checkup there were no hazards or violations. 

The Winston-Salem fire consumed the whole building, causing it to collapse, and about 6,000 people living within a one-mile radius of the plant were told to evacuate.

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