Three Things for February 1
1. Thousands forced to flee their homes due to plant fire
On Monday, Jan. 31, an uncontrolled fire at a fertilizer plant in North Carolina forced thousands within a one-mile radius to evacuate their homes.
According to AP News, firefigthers had previously said chemicals at the site could cause a large explosion.
“Authorities drove through neighborhoods and knocked on doors asking residents to leave within a one-mile radius (1.6 km) of the Winston Weaver Company fertilizer plant on the northside of Winston-Salem, where the fire started Monday night,” reports AP News. “The evacuation area included about 6,500 people in 2,500 homes, the Winston-Salem Fire Department said.”
About 90 firefighters arrived at the scene after the fire was spotted around 7 p.m. on Monday evening. They soon had to retreat as there was a “large volume of ammonium nitrate on the site,” said Winston-Salem Fire Chief Trey Mayo.
No injuries have been reported.
2. Two Chicago synagogues vandalized over the weekend
F.R.E.E. Synagogues and Yeshivas Meor Hatorah-Chicago were vandalized over the weekend.
According to CNN, Chicago police have had a person of interest in custody since Sunday. A Chicago Police spokesperson told CNN no charges have been made as of Monday.
"We were packing food at our food bank for Russian seniors and Holocaust survivors, and as we walk outside, we see a swastika on the building," Rabbi Levi Notik of the F.R.E.E. Synagogue told CNN.
Yeshivas Meor Hatorah-Chicago, which is just a few miles from the F.R.E.E. Synagogue, discovered they had been vandalized as well.
"Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more of these incidents in the past couple of weeks," said American Jewish Committee's Director for combatting anti-Semitism Holly Huffnagle.
"We are going to stand strong," said Notik. "We'll get through this; we will overcome it together as a community, but we have to eradicate hate through love."
3. Woman gives birth on flight
This weekend, a woman went into labor on her United Airlines flight traveling from Ghana to the United States.
“They had been in the air for roughly six hours when the woman went into labor, United Airlines told CNN Travel in an email on Monday evening,” reports CNN.
Fortunately, a physician, a nurse and United flight attendant who was a registered nurse were onboard the aircraft and able to assist in the delivery.
Passengers watched from their seats and sent the mother well wishes.
"I just started praying over her out loud as she was starting to push. She was crying. Before you knew it, the baby came out,” said Tiani Warren of Los Angeles.
Airport paramedics met the flight when it arrived on Sunday, Jan. 30.
