WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Weaver Fertilizer plant fire evacuees are getting some help from the city. The Winston-Salem City Council approved a $1 million fund to help people impacted by the fire Monday night.
The Weaver plant fire was three weeks ago and some folks are still feeling the impacts. Even though city leaders approved the funding, there are still some details that need to be finalized.
"It impacted me financially a lot, being out of work for a whole week and still in this pandemic, it's a lot," Shirneka Boggan said.
"Boggan is the manager of Triad Seafood. It is across the street from the Weaver plant. She said although she didn't live in the evacuation zone, it still impacted her.
"I have several jobs, but two of them are within the 1-mile-radius of the Weaver plant so with both jobs I had to be out of work with both of them because I couldn't come to work for either job," Boggan said.
She said it also impacted the business.
"We had to throw a lot away, our produce, a lot of the produce and fresh vegetables, a lot of fruit, and a lot of the fish we had to get rid of because we simply didn't know the chemicals that were in the, you know, inside of the store that could've affected the fish," Boggan said. "We had actually just gotten our truck for the week, so that was thousands of dollars that was lost."
The city funds can only be used for out-of-pocket expenses like hotel rooms, food, clothing or loss of wages.
Mayor Allen Joines said they are working with the non-profit, Experiment in Self Reliance, also known as ESR, to help with the reimbursements.
"I think the money should be very impactful for these individuals it's not a great amount of money, but if you're taking your rent money to the hotel and then you're in trouble the next time you pay rent, so that it should be helpful," Joines said.
Joines said there is a $1,000 cap per household. ESR said they don't have the funds yet, but hope to have more information in the next few weeks.
