1991 September 3rd. USA, North Carolina, Hamlet, Imperial
Food Products chicken-processing plant: 25 worker died in
a fire; building was without fire alarms or sprinkler systems;
many exit doors were locked to prevent employees from stealing
According to official reports, twenty-five (25) people
died and another fourty-nine (49) were injuried as the result
of afire in the Imperial chicken processing plant in Hamlet,
North Carolina yesterday. Witnesses, at the scene, describedpanicked
workers as screaming, "Let me out!....Let me out!",
as they tried to kick open doors that were reportedly
padlocked by the plant management to prevent vandalism and
theft. Footprint indentations were evident on the inside
of at least one door, that was seen to be locked from the
outside.
In the aftermath of the disaster, N.C. Asst. Commissioner
of Labor Charles Jeffress, said that the eleven (11) year
oldfood processing plant had not been subjected to state
safety inspections due to a lack of inspectors in the state.
Hestated that the Dept. of Labor primarily inspected buildings
for which there had been complaints, and that none had been
received in regard to the Imperial plant.
Hamlet Fire Chief David Fuller said that he couldn't confirm
or deny that the fire exits were locked or blocked. Chief
Fuller did confirm that several bodies were found near the
exits and in a meat locker. A company spokesman said that
as many as ninety (90) employees were present in the building
when the fire started. The spokesman did admit that "certain
doors" in the plant were locked "at certain times",
but was reluctant to admit which doors. Witnesses described
the fire as having started in a twenty-five (25) foot long
fryer vat, which reportedly ignited at approximately 08:30
A.M.
More than one-hundred (100) emergency response and medical
personnel were dispatched to the scene to assist with the
search and rescue efforts. A majority of plant employees
were transported to several area hospitals for treatment
of burns, smoke inhalation, and stress related disorders.
According to at least one witness, some apparently suffered
traumatic injuries while attempting to escape the rapidly
spreading blaze.
Emergency response expert, Clark Staten, of the Emergency
Response & Research Institute in Chicago, IL. said of
the blaze; "If the initial reports can be believed,
this is an intolerable set of circumstances that should
result in criminal charges being placed against those responsible
for having the fire doors locked". "Our past experience
with fires and fire deaths shows that we must insure an
adequate number of open exits from any occupied building",
he continued. "It's hard to believe, in today's day
and age that any business owner or manager would be so insensitive
to fire safety as to allow this sort of incident to happen",
the veteran fire paramedic concluded
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