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Residents living within half a mile of a North Carolina zinc processing plant have been evacuated by authorities overnight, after the facility caught fire and released acid into the air.
Deputies from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s department went door-to-door in the early hours of Monday morning to urge people to flee their homes, following a blaze at the American Zinc Processing facility in Mooresboro.
The plant caught fire late Sunday night and is releasing toxic chemicals – including sulfuric acid – into the air.
More than 100 firefighters from 15 departments are still battling to contain the blaze as towering flames of up to 70 feet continue to roar above the Mooresboro skyline on Monday morning.