Warehouse fire out; Peanut roasting resumes

Operations resumed Friday at the Bladen County peanut farm where a large fire broke out late last week.

Flames destroyed two huge warehouses full of peanuts, but the factory itself was spared. Workers couldn’t roast peanuts for a few days, because of all the smoke.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

It finally burned itself out on Tuesday, after smoldering since last Thursday. The EJ Cox peanut plant is one of the largest peanut farms in the country. The owners said they were grateful to firefighters for saving their peanut factory, despite the limited water supply in the town of Clarkton.