Image copyright Chesnee Community Fire Department Inc Image caption Flames from the fire rose over 75ft high (23 meters)

Authorities in North Carolina have ordered mandatory evacuations after a massive fire at a metal recycling plant led to air quality warnings.

Firefighters were called to the American Zinc Products facility on Sunday around 20:00 (01:00 GMT on Monday) in the town of Mooresboro.

At some moments, the fire's flames rose over 75ft (23 meters), officials say.

A mandatory evacuation zone has been established within a half mile (0.8 km) of the fire due to the poisoned air.

Fire crews had isolated the flames to one part of the facility, but were required to pull back after their equipment tested positive for hazardous materials, according to local news affiliate WSOC.

According to the Associated Press, the inferno may have released harmful sulphuric acid into the air.

Image copyright Chesnee Community Fire Department Inc

"Currently Rutherford County has issued a 1/2 mile radius evacuation of the Zinc plant, due to the air quality," the Chesnee Community Fire Department Inc informed the public on Facebook on Sunday night.

Subsequent posts called for "prayers" for firefighters, at least 100 of whom were called to tackle the blaze.

In a late-night Facebook post, the Rutherford County Government said that sheriff deputies had gone door-to-door to inform residents of the evacuation order.

An emergency shelter has been temporarily set up at the Chase Middle School's gym, although classes will proceed as normal on Monday school principal Jason Byrd told WSPA-TV.

By 07:15 local time on Monday, the blaze had been extinguished, but air quality testing continued.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

According to American Zinc Recycling's website, the Mooresboro facility removes and refines metals to make "special high-grade (SHG) zinc and continuous-galvanizing grade (CGG)".</s>A raging fire at a zinc production plant in North Carolina forced the evacuations of residents and firefighters Monday after sulfuric acid began spewing into the atmosphere.

The blaze at the American Zinc Products plant in Mooresboro sent police knocking on homeowners’ doors early morning warning people within a half-mile of the facility to flee the area.

"The concerns are not necessarily the zinc. The concern is that sulfuric acid has been released,” Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshall John Greenway told Fox Carolina. “We've had the decontamination firemen out here and their gear tested positive as hazardous.”

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The cause of the blaze – which started Sunday night and now, according to WLOS, has been put out – is unclear. The station says the multiple fire departments that have responded to the scene are still applying water through remote-operated nozzles.

An evacuation shelter has been set up at a local high school, Fox Carolina reported.</s>MOORESBORO — A fire at a zinc production plant in North Carolina has been contained. The blaze had released sulfuric acid into the air and led to evacuations of nearby residents.

American Zinc Products said in a statement Monday that firefighters contained the blaze in Mooresboro. The company added that none of its employees were injured and all are accounted for.

The fire started Sunday night at the plant, which lies near the border between North and South Carolina. Deputies went door-to-door warning people to evacuate as the burning plant released sulfuric acid. The county says about a half-mile area has been evacuated.

Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshal John Greenway told news outlets firefighters had at one point pulled away because their gear tested positive for hazardous materials.</s>Mooresboro, N.C. – Authorities in North Carolina say a fire at a zinc production plant in Mooresboro forced some residents to evacuate the area early Monday. The American Zinc Products plant was still burning around 5 a.m.

The fire started Sunday night at the plant, which lies near the border between North and South Carolina. Firefighters contained the blaze to an area of the facility that does not require evacuations, according to Rutherford County Emergency Management, CBS affiliate WPSA reports.

Still from video of the fire at the American Zinc Products plant in Mooresboro, North Carolina. Chesnee Community Fire Dept. via WPSA

Deputies went door-to-door warning people to evacuate as the burning plant released sulfuric acid into the air, and the county says about a half-mile area has been evacuated.

Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshal John Greenway tells news outlets that firefighters have been pulled away from the scene as their gear tested positive for hazardous materials.

He says this is a cautionary measure until officials determine what chemicals they’re dealing with.

According to American Zinc Recycling’s website, the Mooresboro facility removes and refines metals to make “special high-grade (SHG) zinc and continuous-galvanizing grade (CGG).”</s>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 toxic materials 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.

‘Rutherford County Emergency Management is now advising that as a precaution, a half mile evacuation is currently in effect due to the air quality,’ said a post on Rutherford County’s Facebook page.

‘A temporary emergency shelter is open at Chase Middle School located at 840 Chase High Road.’

Members of the Rutherford County Fire Department were ordered to retreat from the scene after their equipment ‘tested positive for hazardous materials’, WSOC reported.

For the meantime, officials are said to be applying water to the flames through the use of ‘unmanned nozzles’.

Inhalation of large quantities of zinc can cause a short-term disease called metal fume fever, however long-term effects of such exposure aren’t known, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances.

Fire officials confirmed on Facebook that an area of the engulfed plant has now been contained, however much of the building and its interior remain ablaze.

Nobody has been injured in the blaze, Capt. Bill Greene of the Ellenboro Fire Department told Fox News Carolina.

Greene added that authorities are still not sure how the fire started in the first place.

The burning plant, formerly known as the Horse Head Zine, is ownHeyed by American Zinc Recycling Corp., and is described on the company’s website as a ‘state of the art solvent-extraction/electrowinning plant’ that removes and refiles ‘special high-grade zinc’.

According to a 2018 article by Recycling Today, the plant ceased operations in October last year, but the company intended to start operations in ‘late March or early April 2019’.

‘Please continue to say a prayer for all First Responders still on the scene,’ the Chesnee Community Fire Department urged on Facebook. ‘Remember Rutherford County has a mandatory evacuation 1/2 mile radius around the plant.’</s>MOORESBORO, N.C. — Authorities in North Carolina say a fire at a zinc production plant in Mooresboro forced some residents to evacuate the area early Monday.

The American Zinc Products plant was still burning around 5 a.m. The fire started Sunday night at the plant, which lies near the border between North and South Carolina.

Deputies went door-to-door warning people to evacuate as the burning plant released sulfuric acid into the air, and the county says about a half-mile area has been evacuated.

Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshal John Greenway tells news outlets that firefighters have been pulled away from the scene as their gear tested positive for hazardous materials.

He says this is a cautionary measure until officials determine what chemicals they’re dealing with.</s>By The Associated Press

MOORESBORO, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say a fire at a zinc production plant in Mooresboro forced some residents to evacuate the area early Monday. The American Zinc Products plant was still burning…

MOORESBORO, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say a fire at a zinc production plant in Mooresboro forced some residents to evacuate the area early Monday.

The American Zinc Products plant was still burning around 5 a.m. The fire started Sunday night at the plant, which lies near the border between North and South Carolina.

Deputies went door-to-door warning people to evacuate as the burning plant released sulfuric acid into the air, and the county says about a half-mile area has been evacuated.

Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshal John Greenway tells news outlets that firefighters have been pulled away from the scene as their gear tested positive for hazardous materials.

He says this is a cautionary measure until officials determine what chemicals they’re dealing with.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>MOORESBORO, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina say a fire at a zinc production plant in Mooresboro forced some residents to evacuate the area early Monday.

The American Zinc Products plant was still burning around 5 a.m. The fire started Sunday night at the plant, which lies near the border between North and South Carolina.

Rutherford County Emergency Officials say the fire has been contained.

Deputies went door-to-door warning people to evacuate as the burning plant released sulfuric acid into the air, and the county says about a half-mile area has been evacuated.

According to Ellenboro Fire Department Captain Bill Greene, when firefighters got to the scene, they saw “flames 60, 75 feet in the air.”

According to CNN, fire officials reported about a dozen of explosions in the building at the beginning of the incident.

Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshal John Greenway tells news outlets that firefighters have been pulled away from the scene as their gear tested positive for hazardous materials.

He says this is a cautionary measure until officials determine what chemicals they’re dealing with.</s>Residents near a zinc processing plant in North Carolina were forced to evacuate early Monday morning after the facility caught fire.

Flames broke out at the American Zinc Products facility, formerly known as Horse Head, in Mooresboro on Sunday night, near the state line between North and South Carolina.

A few hours later, the emergency management agency for the surrounding Rutherford Count ordered evacuations for people living within a half-mile radius of the plant, as a cautionary measure, "due to the air quality."

Rutherford County Assistant Fire Marshal John Greenway told ABC Asheville affiliate WLOS that firefighters were pulled away at one point while the blaze was still burning because their gear tested positive for hazardous materials.

Images from the scene showed a large fire in a part of the facility, spewing billows of black smoke into the air.

The fire was extinguished around 7:15 a.m. Monday morning. An investigation was underway to determine what ignited the flames.

American Zinc Recycling, which owns the facility, said all employees have been accounted for and no one was injured in the fire.

"We are cooperating fully with state and local authorities to investigate the causes of the fire," the company said in a statement to ABC News on Monday. "Our highest priority at all times is to protect the community, our employees and the environment and we are grateful to the quick action by the local first responders. We are unable to comment further at this time."</s>MOORESBORO, N.C. — A half-mile evacuation was ordered around American Zinc Products in Mooresboro because of a huge fire at the plant, according to Rutherford County Emergency Management.

Fire crews are were at the scene of a large fire at the facility in southern Rutherford County. WSPA reports the fire was at the American Zinc Recycling Corp. plant off of US-221 just north of Chesnee, South Carolina. The plant is just over the North Carolina/South Carolina state line.

The evacuation was issued because of air quality concerns.

Drivers should avoid Highway 221 around the plant to keep the area clear for emergency crews. A temporary emergency shelter is open at Chase Middle School located at 840 Chase High Road for those in the impacted area.

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North Carolina authorities have ordered evacuations covering a half-mile radius because of air quality, possibly including harmful sulfuric acid, from a massive fire at a metal recycling plant in Mooresboro. Officials say the blaze has been extinguished, as of 7:15 a.m.