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Diaper bank warehouse remains closed after nearby chemical fire

A storage facility at the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. Photo courtesy of Michelle Old

The Diaper Bank of North Carolina is still assessing the impact of the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant fire on its Triad warehouse location in Winston-Salem. The building remains closed.

The warehouse on Indiana Avenue is located adjacent to the plant.

The Greater Triad Branch serves those in need of diapers and hygiene products both in Winston-Salem and in several neighboring counties. Those products are sent to local community groups who distribute them.

Michelle Old, CEO and founder of the Diaper Bank of North Carolina says it's too early to know the full impact of any damage to the facility or possible product contamination from smoke or chemical fumes. For now, the building is closed indefinitely.

She says that during a brief assessment on Friday, they found several large roof leaks.

“The water damage that we've experienced — we are going to have to dispose of 60,000 products," she says. "If we have to dispose of the products that are in the warehouse, it holds up to a million products, and so it's going to cause quite a ripple effect through our organization in terms of meeting the need in both regions.”

The organization is currently sending products from its Durham location to Triad community partners. Old says experts are testing diapers inside the warehouse in Winston-Salem for any possible contamination.  

"It's heartbreaking," she says. "Because we know where every single diaper has come from. We know the organizations and groups who have donated to our work."

Old says the organization is asking folks to hold off for now on organizing diaper drives until a full assessment at the site is completed.

The Diaper Bank of North Carolina distributes over 100,000 diapers monthly in the Triad, which means they serve about 2,000 babies each month.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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