Shortly after 9 p.m. on July 8, firefighters from Enfield, Halifax, Whitakers, Scotland Neck and Darlington were dispatched for a reported fire at the Halifax Fertilizer Company on Dennis Street.
The first arriving units found an 18,000 square-foot building housing the fertilizer company heavily engulfed in flames. It took firefighters more than 12 hours to extinquish the blaze.
They were able to save a portion of the company and to stop the fire from spreading to nearby storage tanks, but the main building was totally destroyed. More than two dozen residents were asked to leave their homes at the height of the fire.
The plant was closed at the time of the fire. There were some concern about chemicals, but the runoff posed no threat to the neighborhood.
Due to the size of the building it would take a day or two to completely extinquish the fire so that firefighters could enter the area to determine the cause of the fire.
At its height, the blaze could be seen from five miles away. There were no injuries for anyone including firefighters during this blaze.
