The danger from a massive fire at a Winston-Salem fertilizer plant is not over despite the fact that the blaze is now smaller.
Gov. Roy Cooper was in the city to offer help from state agencies.
The fire at the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant began Monday evening and is continuing to burn.
During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Gov. Roy Cooper praised the work of those trying to keep the community safe.
“Firefighters, law enforcement, emergency responders, who are here making sure we protect people's lives and safety,” he says. “That's the number one priority right now.”
Winston-Salem Fire Chief Trey Mayo is urging people to stay away from the mile-radius evacuation zone, saying conditions in the area are not yet safe.
“The challenge is having access to full information and the unpredictable nature of the chemical that we are talking about,” he says. “Ammonium nitrate has a history of being unpredictable”
Mayo says the department is monitoring temperatures in different places at the fire scene and they're watching it from a state highway patrol helicopter. That information will help determine when it's safe to put firefighters back onsite.