88.5 WFDD Web Archives
WFDD Archive
Main WFDD Website News Archives Triad Arts Archives Real People Archives Sports Commentary Archives Business Report Archives  

You are visiting the WFDD web archives.

Click here to return to our main website with the latest news from WFDD and NPR.

Search the WFDD archives
Listen (mp3) Listen  

Firefighters injured in Lenoir County textile mill fire

November 2, 2011 | Keri Brown

Around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday, an emergency call reported a fire at the Kinston Fibers Textile Mill.

“There’s a fire in the rear of the building that pretty much entirely engulfed the back of the building, smoldering cotton bales are packed in there pretty good,” said Woody Spencer, Kinston Public Safety Officer.

Spencer said the textile mill is the size of a large department store and full of
1,000-pound cotton bales. Spencer said the heated bales pose challenges for
firefighters.

“These bales are hundreds of pounds of cotton that are compacted and once the fire and heat gets into them it takes a lot of water to put them out. The water keeps
draining off of them and you have to keep pumping water out to it.”

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from a local
hospital. Several volunteer fire Departments battled the flames and were able to contain the blaze by late Wednesday afternoon.

Spencer said rescue workers aren’t sure if anyone was working in the cotton processing plant when the fire ignited.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.  The building was the scene of two previous fires this year that investigators blamed on loose cotton fibers trapped in a handling system.



 


   
<< October 2011 >>
Su M T W Th F Sa
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829

Show month: