“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.