A massive fire at a 126,000 ft2 fresh produce warehouse in North Carolina is being treated as arson after hundreds of firefighters spent three days tackling the blaze.
The fire at Southern Produce Distributors in Faison severely damaged the structure of the warehouse building, resulting in an estimated loss of between $10m and $15m, together with a stock of sweet potatoes and other vegetables worth an estimated $5m-$6m. A joint criminal investigation between the state bureau of investigation, Dulpin County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is underway.
The fire service was called to the site at approximately 9.40pm on Sunday 26 April and around 250 firefighters from 50 fire departments helped tackle the blaze. At one stage, according to the Goldsboro News-Argus, smouldering bins of sweet potatoes had to be pulled out from the building before firefighters could enter it. The firefighting operation put such a strain on water supplies in the town that water had to be trucked in from nearby ponds and creeks, and a neighbouring business was unable to open on the following day. No one was injured in the fire.
Stewart Precythe, the owner of Southern Produce Distributors, said the facility had four production lines and that cardboard boxes that could hold 40 pounds of potatoes were stored in the building, as were plastic and wooden bins.
