Enfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ronnie Locke said damage to the building was estimated at $159,000 and damage to the cotton seed was estimated at around $61,250.

Thirty firefighters from Enfield, Darlington and Whitakers responded to the blaze on Beaverdam Road shortly before 6:30 a.m.

A passerby called the fire in. It had been burning “a good while” before the call, Locke said.

The metal warehouse and cotton seed were part of a cooperative run by the Enfield Cotton Gin.

The blaze was contained in about an hour and a half and firefighters remained on the scene until just after noon to unload the warehouse.

The warehouse contained cotton seed that was ginned from this past harvest and was to be used for upcoming planting. “It was only a third full,” Locke said. “They had shipped a lot out.”

What seed was salvaged can be sold for cow feed and used to plant on weak soil, he said.

The fire was most likely generated within the stored seed Locke said. “Sometimes if it's not dry you get a spot and it happens.”

These calls are fairly frequent, said Locke, noting this was probably the third time in the last 10 years firefighters have been called there.

“The metal building, the tin is warped,” he said. “They will probably have to replace the whole building.”