page_title: Hamlet chicken processing plant fire
section_title: Fire
hierarchical_section_title: Hamlet chicken processing plant fire / Fire
context_page_description: The Hamlet chicken processing plant fire was an industrial fire in Hamlet, North Carolina, at the Imperial Foods processing plant on September 3, 1991, resulting from a failure in a hydraulic line. 25 workers were killed and 55 injured in the fire, trapped behind locked fire doors. In 11 years of operation, the plant had never received a safety inspection. Investigators believe a safety inspection might have prevented the disaster.
  A federal investigation was launched. Owner Emmett Roe received a 20-year prison sentence, of which he served only four years. The company received the highest fine in the history of North Carolina. As a result, the federal government took over enforcement of much of North Carolina's worker safety laws. Survivors and victims' families accused the fire service and city of Hamlet of racism, leading to two monuments to the tragedy being erected. The plant was never reopened.
  The fire was North Carolina's worst non-mining industrial disaster and second worst industrial disaster overall.
context_section_description: There were 90 employees in the facility at the time of the fire, which began when a 25-foot-long (7.6 m) deep fat fryer vat developed a hydraulic leak, which subsequently caught fire at around 8:30 AM. This cooker's temperature was controlled by thermostat and was maintained at a constant 375 °F (191 °C), which was variable by design to 15 °F (8.3 °C) either way. The fire spread rapidly, causing a panic so that some workers suffered trauma injuries during a rush to escape. Large quantities of smoke were produced by a combination of burning soybean oil and chicken, and melting roof insulation. The smoke was later found to be hydrocarbon-charged and had the potential to disable someone within a few breaths. Several gas lines embedded in the ceiling also caught fire and exploded.
  The majority of those who escaped unharmed were workers in the front of the building who left through the unlocked main entrance, but most workers were trapped by a curtain of smoke. Others tried to escape through the locked doors by kicking them down, but without success; most of the survivors from the rear of the building got out through a loading bay. The bay was initially blocked by a tractor-trailer, but three workers went into the rear of the truck and pounded on the walls until they were heard by rescuers who moved the vehicle. Others escaped when several workers managed to break open a few of the doors, though for many this came too late.
  The injured were sent to several hospitals for treatment for their injuries. One of the dead worked for an outside company and was resupplying the on-site vending machines; no one realized he was inside the plant until the company he worked for reported his truck missing.
  25 people died and 54 suffered injuries or aftereffects such as burns, blindness, respiratory disease from smoke inhalation, neurological damage and post traumatic stress disorder. Of the dead, 18 were female and 7 were male. Many still suffered or died early from their injuries, and some grew addicted to their medications or to alcohol.
caption: A view of the cooker vat where the fire started.
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