WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem city leaders honored the Winston-Salem Fire Department during Monday night’s meeting.
City leaders read a proclamation for their hard efforts as they continue to tackle the Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire along with clean up. The fire started last Monday leading to evacuations at the time.
City leaders highlighted the good decisions that were made while honoring Winston-Salem Fire Department Chief Trey Mayo.
Mayor Allen Joines said during the meeting, “There's an old saying that says, 'a brave person is not the one who doesn't feel afraid, but the one that conquers that fear' and clearly our firefighters conquered that fear and for that our community is forever grateful."
Chief Mayo became emotional last week while talking about the decisions he’s made on the fire scene and about the dedication of his team.
"I have gotten dozens of phone calls, emails, text messages from around the country saying, 'You're doing the right thing. Keep making the decisions you're making. Keep listening to the expert advice.' I can go to bed and sleep the rest of my life being confident in the decisions we made this week," Mayo said.
Last week, Mayo consulted with a nationwide ammonium nitrate expert about the 600 tons of fertilizer-making chemicals inside the plant. He’s also asked the expert about the decisions they’ve made in fire operations. He became even more emotional while talking about the conversation he had with the expert.
“It was reassuring when the ammonium nitrate subject matter expert arrived yesterday…and I said, ‘Shoot me straight. If you’d have been here Monday night what would we have done differently?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely nothing.’ He said – I get a little bit emotional about it – he said, ‘The decisions you all have made are exactly what we would have done if you had had me here the whole time.’ I’m confident in those decisions and proud of the work our folks have done this week," Mayo said.
The Winston Weaver plant contained nearly three times the amount of the fertilizer-making chemicals compared to the West, Texas fertilizer plant which killed 15 and injured dozens more when it exploded in 2013.