GREENSBORO, N.C. — Weaver Fertilizer Company passed its annual fire department inspection in late December. The report shows zero hazards and violations. It does mention parts of the building in poor condition, but nothing against the code.
Of course, the building was built in 1939 and opened in January of 1940, which means that's the fire code it was built under and those are the codes it is still judged by, not the codes of today which require an indoor sprinkler system to suppress fires.
“As a general rule, a building is always grandfathered into the code from the time the building was built. The use of the building hasn't changed, and it's still conformed to the code that was in effect 80 years ago. Codes are minimum requirements and folks need to understand they are not the max, they are minimum requirements,” said David Douglas, Former Greensboro Fire Marshal.
Douglas knows codes and hazardous situations, like the Greensboro Tank Farm fire in 2010.
When asked about why businesses aren't forced to retrofit buildings he said, “Conforming to codes is expensive. If we made everyone do it, some businesses would choose to close the building and say it wasn't worth the expense. We never wanted to overreach what was reasonable and require them to do stuff.”
Douglas says if Winston-Salem Fire Investigators are able to determine the origin and cause of the fire and it's found there was something that could have been done proactively, then it's possible codes could be changed and then be required industry-wide.
The Weaver fertilizer plant caught fire on January 31, 2021, with 600 tons of ammonium nitrate at the facility. A one-mile radius perimeter was established with a voluntary evacuation.