The Hamlet Chicken Processing Plant Fire | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

[@dashawnyork7526]

This was my mother first day back to work after giving birth to me in July. She had just turned 21 September 1st. She was working next to the fryer that caught fire but happened to go to the bathroom right before the fire. She survived by going into the freezer. She and another employee put a box over their head. My mother survived the other lady didn't. I wonder how different my life would be without her....

[@cw4608]

I am so glad for you and your mom.

[@Mrsjam96]

Thank the good Lord you didn’t have to find out!

[@dashawnyork7526]

I have newspapers interviews from when my mother recovered.

[@k33k32]

Your poor mom. Thank goodness she made it.

[@bambieyedd]

Did she have survivors guilt?

[@intrstrnr]

Remember hearing about this on the national news. Was horrified when I heard them say that employee's boot marks were on locked doors where they tried to kick them open. Can't imagine that sort of terrifying death.

[@chatteyj]

I hope to God the authorities dish out very heavy fines for locked fire exits these days, better still a prison sentence for the plants manager.

[@christopherweise438]

That's chilling. A sudden, instantaneous death is one thing.....but knowing your likely outcome, and not being able to do anything about it is horrible. I wonder how many of the employees looked at those locked exits and wondered when...not if this was gonna bite them in the ass.

[@stephenmacartney]

You can see the boot marks at @7:29 in this video. So very sad.

[@LeafeonLive]

"Footprints on the north breakroom door. A worker kicked open the door during the fire so he and his coworkers could escape." That person survived.

[@joanfrellburg4901]

Family members of the deceased have a grim flashback for the rest of their lives every time they pass by a KFC or Swiss Chalet over the sad day when their loved ones were trapped in a blazing inferno.

[@Black-Swan-007]

I currently work in a food processing plant. We plate meals for the elderly, ill, and disabled. Safety (for food and for employees) is taken so seriously. The USDA visits every week, we have quarterly meetings where we go over how to operate in the plant safely. There is a huge emphasis on "If you see, hear or smell something off, speak up." It could save your life or the lives of your coworkers. Things like this are bananas to me.

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

Much has changed even in just the past 40 years due to cases like this. But there are still places out there where safety concerns rank low in importance. The safety violations go unreported, especially in small towns where the business in question is pretty much the only chance for employment, for obvious reasons.

[@Eltron85]

Thank you for working hard to feed those who need prepared meals and for taking their safety to heart in your work.

[@mikexxxmilly]

I work in Auto Manufacturing so different industry but same energy. Im glad these companies have come so far in protecting their employees.

[@SaltyAndSassy]

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Wednesdays and Thursdays have become notorious in recent months for food industry plants having freak incidents. Beware!

[@srahhh]

Same for my company in the biotech/pharmaceutical business. It is truly impossible to overstate how monumentally important safety and regulatory compliance are. It's not a case of "we never screw up"-- we actually hyperfocus on our screw-ups. Half of my job is doing root cause analysis to find out why Joe Labcoat forgot to recap his thermometer. We actually just got inspected by an overseas equivalent of the FDA last week, and they gave us a finding for storing our sink-cleaning bleach at ambient temperature and not room temperature. We use this tiny stuff to improve ourselves, constantly. People don't get in trouble for it. To err is human. Pretending you're err-proof to escape short-term consequences is the issue, and fortunately that is the exact opposite of the culture these days.

[@noraleestone2859]

For me, the most chilling words of this video were, "went on to enjoy a quiet retirement". Mr. Roe Sr. knew he was operating with impunity because of all the corners he cut and rules he broke, and got away with. That demonstrates wilful intent. I hope he suffered greatly for what remained of his life.

[@nhmooytis7058]

Hope he rots in Hell.

[@joseole1117]

He probably spent the remainder of his life in front of the telly watching wheel of fortune re-runs, Eating t.v dinners, and taking sips from his mom's vintage bottles.

[@nhmooytis7058]

@@joseole1117 poster boy for vigilantism.

[@williamkinkade2538]

Maybe in the afterlife.

[@serenityinside1]

WHAT fucking “ afterlife “ ?

[@oumakoki]

Coming from someone who lived the majority of their life in a rural factory town nearby Hamlet (West End) this kind of gross negligence is normalized. People ask how this could’ve happened in 1991 and I can tell you with certainty it can still happen today. Human Rights Watch has an entire article on the loose child labor laws in North Carolina. My grandmother was a child laborer and so was my mother. Luckily my mom was saved from working on the horrific tobacco farms. The entire state has been getting away with keeping these lax and backwards laws despite being one of the largest states in the country population and economy wise. The entire reason for the states success in recent years has been built on the backs of the exploited laborers within.

[@whitemonkey7932]

@Brenda Callahan this shoud be interesting - I have worked in the tobacco business for 30 years.

[@andyjay729]

Yeah, I've read about the horrors of NC's industrial pig farms; it's a wonder a similar accident hasn't happened at one of those or a pork-processing plant. When one of my aunts moved to New Bern, I tried to warn her about "the smell". Fortunately she never noticed (at least she never told me); she now lives in Washington State (she moved there when my cousin moved to Seattle; not because "the smell" finally got to her).

[@anneharrington6442]

Bingo

[@ezrashonor]

Repliblicans, lack of organized labor, lax accountability for big business, weak laws, underfunded and weak government regulations… this is the end result.

[@KAKADOUJACK]

​@Brenda Callahan I'm late to the party here, but I'll throw in my experience just for context. I'll start by saying that I think the original poster is exaggerating in extremis with the word "horrific" here, but I'll also say I grew up in Western NC (not in the mountains but just on the edge of the foothills, where farms weren't so big), rather than in the sandhills down East where fields are much larger. Farmers here were poor, but communities were tight-knit. Tobacco harvesting begins in August, when summer temperatures are at their zenith, and the harvest was (and as far as I know, still IS) done almost completely by hand, even though the planting would have been done by machine. Come harvest time, all the kids and young adults in the farm community would be invited out to the various farms of neighbors for a couple days at a time to pull the ripe leaves and begin priming them. Kids are told they'll be paid a lump sum (or sometimes a certain amount per armful of primed tobacco) and they'll also be fed by the hosting family. Work starts as early as possible, sometimes at dawn for the well organized and the dedicated, but usually around 7:00 or 8:00 for most. If you've done this sort of work before, you wear a long sleeve shirt, a breathable broad-brimmed hat, and short pants, but if you're inexperienced you wear as little as possible, anticipating the heat. The tobacco is 5-7 feet high, and the wilting, yellowed, "ripe" leaves are at the bottom of the plants, which stand in closely spaced rows. The morning dew quickly dissipates, and the gentle coolness emanating from the soil is replaced by a cloying, suffocating humidity. You pick the leaves one by one, the milky sap quickly beginning to dry and harden uncomfortably on your fingertips and between your fingers, and you tuck the leaves into bushels beneath your arm, trying to hold on to as many of them at a time as you can to minimize trips back and forth to the wagon or longbed truck. There are no shade trees in a tobacco field, and the heat is boiling by 10:00. The sap of the tobacco plant contains nicotine which, as it's left on your hands, seeps through your skin and into your bloodstream, making you feel dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseous. Come lunchtime (around 11:30 or so), the women of the house will have been working on the meal all day, and it's truly a thing of wonder. Ham, fried or baked chicken, boiled or mashed potatoes, huge cakes of cornbread, fluffy buttermilk or cream biscuits spread with home-churned butter or strawberry preserves, rice, vats of baked beans with fatty bacon, soft boiled eggs, gallons of sweet tea and lemonade (iced, if you're lucky), and a big bowl of fresh wild blackberries or canned peaches with sugar and condensed milk for dessert, all served and eaten on the breezy front porch, under a shade tree in the front yard, or on the bed of a truck with the sideboards removed. It's all delicious, but it tastes a lot less wondrous coming back up a few hours later when you head back into the fields around 2:00. This is the hottest part of the day, and the "greensickness" of the nicotine exposure is usually at its worst about now, and this is also when the threat of heat stroke is highest. If everyone is really feeling awful, another break might be called around 4:00, but it's a break in place, no going back to the house or any precious bit of shade. In mid August, the sun doesn't set until 8:30 or so in the evening, so as the sun gets low on the horizon, a small breeze might begin to make its way through the dense stands of tobacco, but this is also when everyone will be feeling the push to beat the sunset and work increases to a fever pitch. You hope the sun moving behind the trees at the edge of the field around 8:00 will bring some semblance of relief from the heat. It does not. The moist, muddied ground has absorbed every dram of heat and humidity from the day and relentlessly magnifies it back at you from below once the sun has given you a little respite from above, and by 9:00 or so when the day is finally called you feel like a three pound hammer is falling on your head with every beat of your heart. You pray you don't drop any of the leaves, because that would mean bending over, and if you bend over to pick it up, you might just pass out while you're down there. At the end of the day, you walk home down the still-blistering tarmac or gravel roads back to your own plot, and you're grateful your daddy doesn't grow tobacco on your land. However, you'll still go back the next day and do it again, and when you're finished at one neighbor's property you'll go to the next neighbor's, and then the next, and at the end of the month you'll say it was worth the $100 or so when you get paid, because it's how you grew up, and you know the people you're working for and helping out, and how else are you going to make money during the summer anyway.

[@adamhickey396]

It is incredible how all these industrial accidents all follow the same pattern. Concerned staff bring up an issue about safety. The managers refuse to listen to their worries. Safety inspections are conducted and suggestions ignored as the recommendations involved would be "too costly" to implement. An alternative is implemented. Fire happens or explosion happens or structure failure occurs. Exits are blocked and locked. The workers who worried about the problem are killed or suffer economically/psychologically for years to come. The managers and CEOs survive and escape severe punishment.

[@DeaconG1959]

Think this is depressing? Go to the US Chemical Safety Board KZbin channel.

[@adamhickey396]

@@DeaconG1959 Gonna have to check it out!

[@basbleupeaunoire]

It's the playbook for disaster. Yet people believe that regulations and inspections are a hinderance.

[@kathryncumberland]

@@adamhickey396 Ikr?! It's infuriating!

[@adamhickey396]

@@kathryncumberland Especially how the higher ups always seem to get off with a mere slap on the wrist comparatively.

[@primes1937]

As you described all of the safety measures that were cut because they were "too expensive", all I could think of was a line I heard from a documentary about train crashes: "If you think safety is expensive, try having an accident."

[@markus7166]

I wish more companies thought like that

[@Stroggoii]

It doesn't matter because it's always the entrepreneur or the state who pays for it in the end, not the loan sharks who demanded all security and quality be cut for the sake of growing their sacred dividends. Until shareholders are made personally liable for debt incurred through business malpractice, it's not gonna change.

[@9foxgrl15]

Or be prepared for a major lawsuit.

[@kenmore01]

Yep! Or, if you think you're late now, try getting pulled over for speeding.

[@ariahazelwood3842]

@@kenmore01 This! I always tell people this when I'm in the car with them and it cools them right down every time 😆

[@grapeshot]

There's an interesting book about this disaster it goes into full detail about the company and how shady and corrupt it was and how it treated its employees like crap. The title of the book is simply The Hamlet Fire.

[@Unownshipper]

Sounds a little bit like "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair.

[@markus7166]

Sounds like every single fucking company I've ever worked for 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@EneTheGene]

@@markus7166 You gotta get some better employment my man :D

[@ThyPandora]

@@EneTheGene Greater scheme is termed "capitalism", so that's gonna be hard, I feel.

[@markus7166]

@@EneTheGene I will never work for another company again. I've been self employed for as long as I can remember, and I'm not even 30 😂

[@jakual339]

The exit doors were locked to prevent theft, trapping employees inside when a severe fire started... we literally haven't learned anything since the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.

[@roseknott2832]

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[@davidgirard1398]

I live in Massachusetts and they still talk about the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire of 1942 where 492 people died due to LOCKED OR BLOCKED EXITS. Unbelievable that some owners/managers still have not learned this lesson!

[@cyberleaderandy1]

The locking and blocking of fire doors is a recurring constant in so many fire fatalities. So many lives would have been saved had these exits been available, its shocking that people still treat fire exits with contempt.

[@MsBee-iw3qw]

Keeping fire exits clear at my workplace is literally part of our job! Those of us who have been with the company (Wal-Mart) for a long time, myself among them, are dummy uptight about it. Unfortunately, some of the newer people aren't really paying full attention to their safety training, so we still have to move the odd pallet or cart. That kind of irresponsible shit irrates me to no end!

[@cyberleaderandy1]

@@MsBee-iw3qw not surprised as your and their lives could depend on it. I really dont understand why some people have a dumb attitude to their own safety or almost try to get themselves killed.

[@yvesrongy4355]

This is one of the issue of every single major fire that I heard of! I can't get my head around why one could think that it is a good idea to lock a fire exit!

[@KezanzatheGreat]

@@cyberleaderandy1 Because people don't have a great sense of danger. They often don't think about what could go wrong until it does go wrong. And in the workplace and elsewhere, I've always noticed that people are terrible at thinking ahead.

[@lanabmc3519]

@@MsBee-iw3qw Walmart owned Asda over here and weren’t that bothered about it. The customer ones yes but the warehouse ones were usually chained to “prevent theft”.

[@frank8089]

I know it’s 2022 but I’m so much more aware of potential safety procedures wherever I go now thanks to this channel.

[@briaubs5185]

We definitely stand a better chance than most in a fire! That’s for sure. And we know not to visit any progressive new theme parks. : )

[@cheepymcpeepy]

It's made every EXIT sign, every max capacity sign of a venue LAW for me 😂

[@TheZackofSpades]

Every time I observe a safety measure I end up thinking “someone or someones has paid in blood for that…”

[@macaylacayton2915]

I have an industrial hygienist for a dad so he is my Irl version of this channel to an extent

[@bo7341]

I notice things and hear them in FH's voice in my head. ie "The fire exit door was barred shut to prevent sneaking in to the theater".

[@grapeshot]

The delivery driver, the company he work for, they didn't even know that he was a fatality until the company he worked for call the police and reported delivery truck as being stolen.

[@celieboo]

That is terrible!

[@Tom-lm2tc]

What

[@kellykellybumbum]

😣

[@TheGryfonclaw]

sounds about right for north carolina

[@cjclark2002]

The mentality and attitude clear and concisely shown in this comment right here man.

[@tomboy_kisser]

3:45 Reminds me of a man whose arm got caught in a machine in a major Dell computer plant. The managers & supervisors refused to turn off the machines for *over an hour* while he screamed in agony and pleaded for his life. He died for their, & the CEO's, greed. My mom worked there at the time but was later fired for speaking out about this, racism at the plant, and other awful things. Early 2000's, middle Tennessee, if you want to cover this incident in a future video.

[@enzoli23]

what the hell, that's messed up 😳

[@firstoffproductions1462]

To the people worried about the locked door people kicked in an attempt to open: 5:29 you can see the map here, at the break room (look left and above the fire), you can see the locked door, and it says "locked, kicked open by employees". This means they did indeed successfully kick open the door, you may rest easy if that was being heavy on your conscious.

[@psychicgibbons3354]

Thank you

[@jessicar3291]

Thanks much. : )

[@benindermaur5693]

Yes, the worker who kicked down the door was named Bobby Quick. He severely injured his back in the process but got a sizable payout from the lawsuits and was able to get himself a new home with a truck and some chickens to raise. He’s still alive I think.

[@elliottprice6084]

19 years in prison for 25 counts of involuntary manslaughter and released in four. The owner of the factory practically got away with it. Both the owner and the manager should have received this sentence, but corporate greed and corruption freed the owner

[@markus7166]

Intent matters. Just because they died doesnt mean he intended for that to happen. His stupidity cost their lives, not his actual intent. Murderers get less time than that.

[@freeizzy8395]

@@markus7166 19 years is already a slap on the wrist for 25 lives imo. I think 1 count of involuntary is usually around 10. I had family members serve 24 months for selling weed (although) it was quite a few years ago.

[@lordmarcusrax]

@@markus7166 Please! If you block the fire exits you are knowingly admitting that the lives of the workers are expendable. He knowingly endangered their lives, and those people died because of that. He deserved much more than 19 years.

[@SomeGuyFromCrowd]

@@markus7166 i would argue that such dedication to horrendous safety violations is impossible to distinguish from genuine intent

[@elliottprice6084]

@@lordmarcusrax life without parole

[@TheRealChristopherB]

Man, I've seen negligence be the damning factor in so many cases on this channel. But I think this tragedy takes the cake on severity and egregiousness. Sacrificing safety for profits, knowing that they could get away with it as the load-baring pillar of Hamlet's economy. Absolutely despicable and incredibly foolish conduct by the Rowes. Safety is ALWAYS the number one priority. You don't mess with safety measures because a lack of safety measures will mess with you.

[@tjroelsma]

But that goes directly against the "profit above anything" way of doing business that's so popular in the US. Who cares about the lives of some workers? There's plenty more where they came from. The only thing businessmen and companies care about with disasters like this is the loss of the plant, products and producing capacity.

[@ethribin4188]

@@tjroelsma exactly. No employer cares about the lives of their workers, until their workers rightfully sue them for dangerous work enviromemts. Its their lawyers that companies respect and take care of. But not thrir workers. Very sad

[@GiordanDiodato]

welcome to small town america.

[@TheGryfonclaw]

It was rural North Carolina in the early 90s, nothing about this is shocking

[@volvo09]

This stuff will always happen when greedy people are in charge. Happens in America, happens in Mexico, happens in China, and it happened in collapsed regimes like the USSR. Sometimes it's for money, sometimes it's for production quotas demanded on them by authorities, sometimes it's for political appeal... But it always results in the same thing, death and injury.

[@Cynthiabecker24]

....and what about the fire chief who decided NOT to call on the voluntary fire department???? What were his consequences??? Shameful on many levels.

[@Unownshipper]

Probably nothing sadly. I wonder if there's enough information that this content creator can make a KZbin Shorts follow up? Stupid racism. What POSSIBLY could've been the harm in getting more help to put out the fire?

[@scolipede491]

none. racism runs all the way to the top in that area.

[@puppiesarepower3682]

Maybe he was afraid of racial backlash? i.e. "Why are you using our resources for your peeples‽"

[@sagichdirdochnicht4653]

And all of this because of racism. Or at least, that's the only reason I could see, why he wouldn't call the voluntary fire departement. Even if their equipment sucked, it was a life or death situation and every help would have been needed - the faster the better. No, this piece of shit decided, he'd rather let people die, then to let black people have the glory of saving lifes. Like what the fuck is wrong with this guy?! I imagine being a racist is like seeing your biggest enemy in every people of color. There are several people in this wolrd, whom I wouldn't shed a tear, if they painfully perrished. But be sure as fuck I'd still very much appreciate their help, if I was traped in a god damn fire, enemy or not. Even the biggest racist piece of shit you've ever seen on the planet wouldn't mind the help of a black person in such a situation.

[@jtgd]

@@puppiesarepower3682 I’m pretty sure volunteers would be willing to save a life It’s merely an assumption to believe the volunteers would be standoffish and would deny. It’s the south immediately following the civil rights era. I’m 95% certain it’s likely the chief was just racist. It’s not like those 60’s racists just changed their mind because the law changed. Like there is still pushback against gay marriage today, there were still people against the idea of integration. Just because some people “focused on the black community” at the time doesn’t mean everyone is like that. There were plenty of black volunteers doing honorable things, from war to politics. There’s actually a good documentary about that

[@jasper3042]

It is terrifying and infuriating to hear about locked and /or blocked doors in these situations. The boot prints on the door were really sad to see.

[@SkepticalChris]

A very strong consistent theme in so many of your videos, is about businesses cutting costs and cutting corners to save money and increase profits resulting in disasters, damage, and death.

[@seandelap6268]

Bloody stupidity to keep the exit doors locked how many of these sort of tragedies could have been averted if people weren't blocked from escaping because of blatant incompetence.

[@KazyEXE]

If you don't lock them, workers could steal at least tens of dollars worth of chicken!

[@molybdomancer195]

so many of the stories of fires on this channel have inoperative sprinklers and locked/blocked fire doors often to avoid theft or illegal access.

[@Unownshipper]

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire springs to mind.

[@garylefevers]

Kazy, ikr! I guarantee that if one worked a week at that death trap, chicken would be the last thing the would want.

[@nozoto]

@@KazyEXE > some employees tend to steal a part of the produce and sneak out on the emergency exits > wire the opening of these exits to an alarm, thanks to which a security guard can intercept the thief. Isn't that effin' simple?? But I guess it was still too much of a costy solution for that penny clenching jacka****ss, not even damned to provide circuitry in decent working order. There sure is a will to cashgrab, but when it comes to invest and act professionally...

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

I live near Hamlet & sent this suggestion in years ago. This information for this story trickled out for months and years, very well put together. The most chilling photo of this disaster to me is the door with the shoe marks on it in made in a futile attempt to escape @ 7:30

[@lossnt557]

Didn't they successfully kick that particular door open?

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

​@@lossnt557 This steel door looks locked in that photo & has kick marks all over it; therefore I doubt it was unlocked during the incipient phases of the emergency. Snapshots can be taken at any point in time. I never remember the news saying this door was successfully opened. That Doesn't make headlines.

[@dotdotdot4223]

@@GregBrownsWorldORacing The latch is broken though and the door's open

[@marianneturner7267]

That door with the boot prints is etched in my mind. That door was supposed to be preserved and sent to the Smithsonian for display, not sure if it ever happened.

[@helenawarsinnak]

Wow I just noticed that!! That's just so incredibly horrible imagining what they were going through as the person tried to kick that door open...😥💜🙏

[@TheOriginalFoxtrotCharlie]

I love your channel ❤ Im making dinner here in Canberra, Australia 🇦🇺 
If you want a story no-one will have heard of, look up the failed implosion of the Royal Canberra Hospital in 1997. I remember it being advertised as a family event, and everyone went down to the Lake that day to watch. There were more than 100,000 people on the shoreline. The implosion failed catastrophically and fatally. Large pieces of debris reached the shoreline and struck spectators. I was less than a km away from the young girl who was killed, I remember everyone screaming. There is information and videos of the event on youtube. RIP Katie. Ive never forgotten you 💐

[@tbaga173]

Unreal. I had actually been considering suggesting this tragedy here also but I'm not sure how much of the comments he reads. I never see any interaction. The 25th anniversary is coming up very shortly and the horrific injuries she sustained and the disgraceful way in which the Chief Minister (politician) wanted the implosion to promoted to the point of allegedly ignoring safety issues and cost cutting is a story definitely worth this content creators time and research. What a sad day for that family and tragic waste of a life.

[@Kyrridwen420]

That's so insane, as an Australian and someone with direct family ties from Canberra I had no idea this even happened! I can't believe I never heard of it, not even from family that live there 😳

[@Inlinetodie]

Happens everyday, at least once, in every country

[@MovementDrifter]

To be honest I would love to see a video on the robodebt scandal. They believe there were 2000 suicides attributed to it.

[@tuesdaynext7370]

This is a old and minor but really interesting one, but I've researched the Barringer Mine Flood near Charlotte NC way too much and would love to see a video on that

[@PigeonHoledByYT]

Thank you so much for documenting this. Hamlet is such a small town as it is, I didn't think anyone really remembered this. It blows my mind that companies still lock emergency exits with the excuse of trying to prevent theft.

[@DonPaliPalacios]

Some factors of this case remind me of the horrendous Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire (Paraguay, 2004), which I would recommend as a topic for a future video. Over 300 people lost their lives due to flawed design, lack of fire safety measures, and (according to employees' testimony) the administration ordering employees to lock the doors during the fire to prevent customers running for their lives to exit without paying first! May the victims of these two fires and all innocent victims of corporate negligence rest in peace.

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

"Benign neglect". Now THERE'S an oxymoron for you, especially when it comes to this channel. Here's another term for the corrupt people responsible for tragedies like these: More often than not, they face "insufficient consequences" for their "benign neglect".

[@j.d.e.7416]

Yeah, it's not benign when it takes lives.

[@richardcline1337]

Almost sounds like everyone "working" (taking up space and wasting the air they breathe) in Washington these days on BOTH sides of the aisle!

[@LPCLASSICAL]

The channel is reporting on the investigation which described the inspectors turning a blind eye as benign neglect.

[@SmugRoom38]

Read that the vending machine deliveryman that died was identified by his son, who was one of the firefighters

[@cybroxde]

Even though the punishment for Roe Sr. was far too light, this is probably one of the only times someone responsible is actually held accountable. Wow.

[@revenevan11]

Sad that you're right, but you have a good point. I was getting grumpy that he got off so easy, and while I still am, I like your perspective on it too. At least 1 person in greedy management caught a charge in this case! Although workplace and industry safety has improved in the US, I think that the rich and greedy management people who cut corners actually get away with it more often these days when something like this *does* happen.

[@Hannah_Em]

I guess this case was egregious enough (or more likely, well known enough and the cause of enough public anger) that they felt they had to throw him under the bus to try and stop people from demanding more meaningful change to the system that lets this sort of thing happen

[@ecuadorexpat8558]

The "Good Ole Boy" system always wins!!!!

[@rolandm9750]

My thinking is the main reason he plead guilty is because prosecutor probably told him if he didn't want to take a deal, his son would be getting charged instead/in addition. Not wanting his son to go to jail, he took the deal.

[@Tishers]

His son was probably the guy who personally clicked the padlocks on the fire doors and gave the direct order to put that janky hydraulic hose in service. He got away free and clear.

[@missybarbour6885]

Broken sprinkler system? Locked doors to prevent theft? Machinery blocking exits? Disaster preventing people from calling the fire department? We've got Fascinating Horror bingo, everybody! (Management not paying for basic equipment was a free space)

[@hayasheeeesh]

Not to mention the racism

[@Canev821]

What would they steal anyway? Chicken

[@Fcutdlady]

This sounds like the stardust nightclub disaster here in Dublin ireland emergency exits were locked and fire extinguishers were removed .

[@TheMarychinoCherry]

Rich Guy who gets away with it gets the blackout

[@twilightnawi1194]

@@Canev821 There's quite a few jokes I could make about that, but... nahhh

[@SadisticSenpai61]

My partner worked at a food processing plant (owned by a Canadian family, the plant was in Wisconsin) in their maintenance department. They bought hydraulic hoses by the reel. His reaction? "Are you f*cking kidding me?! Hydraulic hoses are ridiculously cheap! WTF?! How did _only_ one person go to jail?!" He also pointed out that the long time it takes to shutdown and restart a line was why having skilled maintenance workers that can do a spot replacement extremely quickly is so important.

[@kringe700]

Greedy company cutting corners everywhere, corrupted authorities turning the blind eyes for "economy's sake", no maintenance or inspection whatsoever, locked fire exit, racist altitude, pure bad luck, and those who're responsible just getting away with it. This is basically the magnum opus of "what can possibly go wrong?" And I'm surprised that the death toll is relatively "low" for such a long strings of disasters waiting to happen.

[@markus7166]

Racist attitude ??? What ??? 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@kringe700]

@@markus7166 I think the video did mention that the town fire department refuses to call the local fire volunteers just because they are black.

[@markus7166]

@@kringe700 if that were the case, why would they allow them to be volunteers in the first place ? Dont believe everything you see or hear on the internet 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@mikec71346]

@@markus7166 Re-watch the video. Imagine trying to defend racism. The town’s fire Marshall did not call on them to help. Just because it’s near the town does not mean that they have the same jurisdiction. It clears states that the fire department was ready, but was never called and probably can’t without the clearance to do so. There’s no legitimate reason why the Marshall should not have called for help.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@markus7166 It was a mostly black volunteer department in a mostly black community in North Carolina... They were underfunded, in spite of even state requirements to the contrary, under equipped, neglected in just about every aspect... and genuinely less than stellar because of it. Whether the city department refused to call them just because they were black or because of the general lack of equipment and training and so on... it's a clear example of the "systemic racism" that still exists to this day... It sucks, and as a Tennessee resident, I hate it about "The South" in general... BUT refusing to believe it exists is just willful stupidity. Things are generally getting better, and they have been for a long time. They're not "alright" even yet, though. It is (and was) what it is. ;o)

[@gretchenlittle6817]

Having lived in a depressed area in rural US, I can attest to the desperation local authorities can feel when making concessions to potential employers. All I can say is thank goodness for the responsible employers who maintain their facilities and treat employees fairly. These business people do exist, although they won't end up portrayed on this channel.

[@ironnoah9461]

That's because they don't cause incidents just like this one.

[@JohnDoeRando]

Heck, my whole friggin state is depressed, desperate for jobs. I wonder what kind of crap goes on here relating to this kind of thing.

[@ashleyhathaway8548]

@@JohnDoeRando West Virginia?

[@NathanTarantlawriter]

@@JohnDoeRando Answer: A lot.

[@JohnDoeRando]

@@ashleyhathaway8548 other side of the country, New Mexico.

[@icarussuraki9929]

Growing up in NC, I can say that this awful event is still talked about, especially around major anniversaries of it happening. And when there's been a fire at other processing plants or warehouses or factories (there have been a couple this year alone), it comes back into conversation and media. As horrible as it was, I'm glad it can still serve as a warning and a cautionary tale.

[@mikexxxmilly]

Sadly, all safety regulations are written in blood.

[@forgenorman3025]

Not to minimize what happened to these poor people, but if there's still fires occurring at businesses due to cutting corners, it doesn't seem like it's working as a warning or cautionary tale. Many of these regulatory agencies have no teeth, meaning they can recommend stuff but can't enforce it, and that's one of many things that need to change to stop these horrible things from happening.

[@thomasmills3934]

Been in NC for 40 years. Never heard of it...

[@fritzfxx]

Considering how NC as a whole seems to feel about regulation, I don't think they learned that lesson

[@Gail1Marie]

If you'd ever worked in a food processing plant, you'd wonder why they ALL don't burn to the ground eventually. The worst are potato chip or other fried food factories, but any food processing facility has fryer vats, ovens, heaters, or hydraulic equipment that can cause fires.

[@nandarox528]

Thank you for covering this. I was 9 years old when this happened & remember my mom working a double in the ER & kids being checked put of school. I also could see the smoke from my backyard.

[@katrinafitch3534]

I started watching these documentaries for over two years and now it has over 1 million subscribers!

[@cruisepaige]

I had a boyfriend who was a firefighter. I used to read his firehouse magazines and there are so many of my behaviors that are from reading those stories, like this one. For ex: I never ever ever put anything flammable on the stovetop. Not even for a moment. I mean everything is flammable at some point including a cast-iron pan, but I mean things that don’t belong there. I read about groceries an old guy left on the stovetop and a couple of firefighters died fighting the fire.

[@peppersaltsman6044]

I accidentally set an oven mitt on fire by turning on the wrong burner to boil water once. Luckily I was there but if I had turned it on and walked away? Fire terrifies me

[@basbleupeaunoire]

People are forgetful. I sure am. So yeah, teaching people to *never* put things on the stovetop is important.

[@zebraloverbridget]

When I first moved into an older apartment the stove/oven was old and dying. To the point that the landlord told me to just call when it needed to be replaced since repairing it wasn't worth it. After not being in the kitchen for several hours, I walked back in to find one of the burners was on. I had recently moved in and had not even used the stove top yet. I had items on the counter that were very close to the stove but just far enough away to not touch the burner, but it was pretty scary. Since I had no idea how/why it turned on to begin with I would manually turn off the oven's breaker when not in use. That way there was no way for it to happen again.

[@davidcox3076]

Can you please come to my house and deliver a safety lecture? I'm constantly removing flammable items my wife and kids throw on the stove top.

[@zebraloverbridget]

@@davidcox3076 Switch the oven breaker off when it's not in use! The kids likely won't know to do it to get it back on but your wife will. Maybe it'll be slightly safer that way? It really depends on how often your wife uses the stove top and if she turns it back off every time

[@sarahewson3607]

Manslaughter becomes murder when you intentionally drive past the closest fire department! Such a horrible tragedy. That practice of locking/blocking escape doors shows up a lot, I wouldn’t doubt it’s still common practice in some places today.

[@nlwilson4892]

The manager drove to the nearest fire department, it was the fire chief there that failed to call back-up from the near by volunteer unit because they were black.

[@RepresentWV]

Yeah, he didn't drive past the nearest fire dept; the fire chief purposely left a closer fire dept out of the effort for reasons unknown. Doesn't change the fact that this was murder, and everyone practically got away with it which is even worse.

[@elisabethandersen1102]

@@nlwilson4892 Did you ever consider that maybe the volunteer black firefighters weren't known for being very reliable, and that there might have been a good reason for not wasting time going there? Not everything is 'racism', you know.

[@basbleupeaunoire]

@@elisabethandersen1102 Help was never requested. How long would a phone call take? Do you know something about the uncalled unit that you haven't shared, or is there another reason why you suggest they were unreliable?

[@nlwilson4892]

@@elisabethandersen1102 There was no wasting time simply to phone them, the fire chief could have even phoned them after phoning the other station. All firefighters are trained to the same standards, they pass the same tests and even if they weren't quite as good they would have still been a huge improvement on waiting much longer. If there had been a valid reason then that would have been given during the inquiry into the fire.

[@pmberry]

The thing that's hard to take about this one was that *existing* regulations, inspections, etc, would have prevented, or at least lessened, the tragedy. The fact that complete non-compliance by the owners, by their deliberately failing to register the (true nature of the) business, a fact which was subsequently and continually overlooked by authorities in the town because their citizens had come to depend on a single large employer, is just reprehensible. This wasn't the bad old days of laissez-faire pre-regulation America. It was barely 30 years ago.

[@charamia9402]

True! There is such a huge difference between 'hadn't thought that could be an issue until it was' and 'yeah, we know, whatever'.

[@basbleupeaunoire]

It's awful what you can do when people in power are inhumane.

[@basbleupeaunoire]

It's awful what you can do when people in power are inhumane.

[@Nothingseen]

One of the difficult things about the US is that even with strong federal or state safety standards, if you go looking you can find someplace that's basically a third world country desperate to become a resource to be exploited because then at least they'll have something there. You can be in a town where buildings are all safe, regularly inspected, there hasn't been a workplace injury in decades, and it feels like it's supposed to and drive like 30 miles in the same state and even same county and find a hellscape. Add a stubborn, short sighted, and stupid local government in the mix and people die.

[@Nothingseen]

@trollolol This wasn't criminals ignoring laws, this was local law enforcement letting a company get away with dangerous stuff out of a perceived economic necessity.

[@Trichonosis22]

My Uncle was working here the day it caught fire. He managed to escape, and even ran back in to drag people out, but several of his coworkers died in his arms. He never recovered emotionally or mentally.

[@technick6418]

NC resident here. There's one more little-known and very tragic fact which made this disaster even more gut-wrenching. The entire tragedy may have been prevented, were it not for a simple typographical error. The following information comes from an in-person conversation with a primary source. A few years ago, my response to an ad for a much-wanted motorcycle part led to a chance encounter with a woman. She turned out to be one of the NC state OSHA investigators who was on scene after the fire. When she spoke, I listened. She corroborated many of the details presented in this video (great presentation, BTW) but added the answer to one question many people are/were asking. Why weren't the unsatisfactory conditions in and around the plant before the fire ever reported? Turns out, they couldn't be. At least not easily. Long before disaster and well away from the town of Hamlet itself, a minor-and usually harmless-error was made which would have major implications. Some of the OSHA workplace safety posters which had been run off for distribution to various NC employers during the time prior to the fire were defective. They contained a typographical error in the phone number displayed on the poster, rendering it useless. The mistake was eventually caught and rectified, but as you may have guessed by now, the poster(s) which had been hung inside Imperial Foods had the wrong phone number on display. Even if someone had wanted to voice their concerns, they could not get in touch with the proper authorities who had the power to intervene. In other words, going over the heads of company management to report a problem was not an option. Remember, this disaster took place during the era before the Internet and smart phones. Ironically, of all the things which WERE done wrong by Imperial Foods, the error on the posters was one of the few things found not to be the company's fault. We will never know if a proper phone number on display could have made a difference, but this was another piece of flying debris in the perfect storm of mistakes leading up to the fire. RIP to everyone who lost their lives.

[@joeb2]

Being a maintenance mechanic in an industrial setting, if I see a safety issue, I shut down production immediately. Luckily, the company I work for is very safety oriented and I do not get “punished” for shutting production down. Though I have been asked to make a repair while something is running. If I can safely, I will. If not, I essentially tell them to pound salt and that I cannot do the repair until I can lock out the machine(s). It’s not worth my life or anything else’s. I do not care how much money the company will lose during the down time.

[@roaddog7542]

l live in a rural area with food processing and manufacturing plants. Maintenance employees are often someone's brother-in-law with no schooling. Scary stuff.

[@bluejedi723]

have a friend who is a maintenance mechanic. Company he works for has same safety minded. They would much rather a safety inspector/ mechanic completely over react to some minor issue, shut down the line for an entire shift to fix issue/clean something and start it back up than see someone get hurt or killed.

[@RealElongatedMuskrat]

as someone who's seen a person pulled into a machine (cheese factory) and essentially shredded / flayed because he was cleaning without fully disabling it, I'm VERY glad to hear that you stand up for yourself and refuse to work on running machinery.

[@revenevan11]

Good stuff! 👍

[@Mrsjam96]

@@RealElongatedMuskrat is bet you never get that image out of your head! Keep telling people so hopefully no one else meets that horrific fate! And I’m sorry you had to so ness that! Does it cause nightmares?

[@rogerszmodis]

I worked at a store in high school where the owner locked fire exist “to prevent theft”. Nobody died but it was discovered in an inspection and he was fined $1 million. Maybe personally fined because he went bankrupt and had to sell.

[@bigzach7778]

Free him

[@LadyintheGreenHat]

Good, no pity for him. There are better ways to determine theft that don't risk safety.

[@basbleupeaunoire]

Willing to kill some teenagers! What a bastard.

[@rogerszmodis]

@@bigzach7778 he’s probably dead. This was like 20 years ago and he was like 70.

[@paulf2529]

Exactly, I've worked at places were fire extinguishers were used to prop open doors and nails put into plugs rather than fuse etc. Little things that 9 times out of ten cause no problem but just as suddenly can cause a devatating one. Having done no safety training at all I was given the task of listing and inspecting the electrical equipment were I was working. I very quickly found one plug with signs of overheating and discovered the fuse had been replaced by a quarter inch thick cut down nail. The problem is complacency, start cutting corners and accepting corner cutting and the small issues build up into big ones. For the record with mutch ridicule from others i worked with I insisted the motor was replaced and the plug and power supply upgraded to 16 amp, I moved on in my career quite quickly but did get this one small change.

[@TheTurkaderr]

Can you imagine that poor guy killed just cause he showed up at the wrong time to stock the damn vending machines ? I mean working there full time is bad enough, but it's these death by bad timing cases that just get to me some times.

[@rknprs]

I was born in Richmond county and my family lived in Hamlet for a number of years. It had quite an impact on me and I frequently remind politicians what the “eliminating govt regulations” mindset can lead to.

[@davetheheretic295]

This is the best channel - dry recitation of facts paints a far more horrifying story than any sensationilism or embellishment could.

[@drealynne4256]

They had three fires in 11 years and not once had a safety inspection! Extremely negligent! Wow I mean we see a lot of that on this channel but this one was just stupidity all around! The fact that the fire chief denied the extra help from dobbin heights volunteers saying they were “not qualified” and “they should be honored to be placed on standby” was a slap in the face to all the victims! 😤 WTF who cares what race someone is let alone during a disaster like that when people are literally burning! I’m so disappointed Emmett didn’t spend the full 19 years in prison! It should of been even more in my opinion! Also does anyone know where I submit a story?

[@mikexxxmilly]

Now days, you cant even pass gas without OSHA showing up lol.

[@vernicethompson4825]

@@mikexxxmilly Unless your building is full of mold or mildew. Then they really don't care.

[@doryna_sira]

It was sadly a common attitude at the time... North Carolina was still very much a manufacturing state in those days, and a lot of other places would get away with inspections and situations similar to Imperial Foods because that one major employer was pretty much responsible for the economy of entire towns or counties. It wasn't really until manufacturing started leaving and going overseas in the late 90's and 2000's that those mill and factory towns started attempting to diversity their economy. Some still haven't recovered and they're shrinking as people leave to seek their fortunes elsewhere.

[@MovieMakingMan]

Republicans cut regulations or defund agencies tasked to enforce regulations. Republicans hate regulations and responsibility. They don’t want any corporation to be regulated. They are dumber than dirt.

[@ravioli2020]

I worked in a warehouse that did not pull permits or update the space for the kind of work we were doing. The health department found out, showed up, shut us down for a month, and the company had to do a million dollars in renovation, including a sprinkler system and safety doors. It was awesome because I got a month long paid vacation, but am haunted by what could have been. If there was a fire there, we all would have died, and I had at one point seen a refrigeration system draining water on to a coiled extension chord. Work place safety is not a "past" problem.

[@paulmoir4452]

Modern food safety recognises that if you're not compliant with the law (eg, occupational health and safety laws) you probably aren't particularly trustworthy with food safety either. Figure that's what happened in your circumstance?

[@ravioli2020]

@@paulmoir4452 I have some absolutely mind blowing stories about rat and cockroach infestations from this job. A tech company started a grocery business and had no idea what they were getting in to, but thought they were smarter than anyone who had experience. wild times

[@paulmoir4452]

@@ravioli2020 Oh, that does sound like a recipe for disaster!

[@firewalk27]

It’s always a good night when I get to listen to a new fascinating horror video as I fall asleep. The narration is just so soothing, despite the dark topics.

[@Misty_Haze]

I love waking up on Tuesdays knowing I get a new one to listen to as I wake up

[@WestonEvans]

What in the hell ails you that you’re going to bed this time of morning?

[@markus7166]

Theres just something calming about listening to his voice describe how people burned to death in an accident 👌😂

[@markus7166]

@@WestonEvans not everyone lives in the US. Maybe they work 3rd shift 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@ThyPandora]

@@WestonEvans Y'know, time zones are a thing and not everyone lives where you do - lmao.

[@gahook]

At one point, I worked in Hamlet NC for a medical facility. I remember speaking to one of the doctors who was a first responder, mainly because it was such a small town, the local doctors were also treating the people there and being told the nightmares of what actually happened. To this day, I'll never forget it.

[@the-chillian]

Brad Roe is the Braddiest Brad I've ever seen in my life. On a more serious note, the plant might have been officially inspected for food safety, but if there was so much grease and oil all over the plant, it's virtually certain that something was amiss in that area too.

[@twistedpear18]

Easily one of the most enraging videos you’ve ever made, horrible judgement all around.

[@Unownshipper]

Right?! Sometimes I feel like this channel isn't good for my health; stories of stupid and greedy people who recklessly endanger the innocent always makes my blood boil. But this guy's diverse content, respectful tone, and high-quality approach are just SO GOOD, I can't stay away.

[@sarajones7372]

I remember this. My dad used to work for OSHA in NC and got some of the details before they were public knowledge. He described the handprints in the soot on the chained fire exit doors.

[@k33k32]

Your poor dad. Inspecting that site must have been nightmare inducing.

[@bigzach7778]

@@k33k32 he'll be alright

[@sarajones7372]

@@k33k32 don’t worry, he wasn’t actually there. He just knew some of the folks who were.

[@AmariFukui]

I hear way to many stories about FIRE EXITS being locked to prevent things not related to fire and its always galling how they just forget why the doors even exist

[@rainey1987]

There’s a documentary here on KZbin that speaks with a lot of the survivors of that day. So heartbreaking

[@bigzach7778]

They dieded?

[@jacob_90s]

Something really important I feel needs to be pointed out; in situations like this, people often like to say this is a case of business vs workers, but something I've realized after looking into many situations like this is not the case. It's MANAGEMENT vs workers AND business. Even if you are a cold hearted bastard who doesn't care about the lives of the workers, you have to realize that for companies like this, run by penny pinchers for years, is neither the workers nor the machines would ever be able to work at anywhere near their maximum productivity. The business itself was being held back from reaching it's potential because management was leeching off of it.

[@xtremenortherner]

I remember reading about this in 1991...,and I had just been made member of the "Safety Committee" of the (Monsanto) plastics plant that year...,making monthly fire safety inspections. This terrible incident shows just how deadly industrial fires can be...,and not always start in places that one would expect.

[@ErroTheCube]

The best part of your videos is how you present "what happened next?". I find it very fascinating how the authorities looks at a case and then try to prevent it from ever happening again, keep it up!

[@Silentst0rm5]

Well, I always know I'm up late when I see Fascinating Horror this early lol

[@k_isforkaito.]

Yup

[@Periwinkleaccount]

Me too.

[@seenundercygnus6870]

Right here with you.

[@SomeplaceScary]

"Oh, it must be 2am."

[@missj2045]

Same 😅

[@crazyhorrorchick6581]

I lived right in front of where the plant was (it’s a memorial now). Me and my kids used to walk across the street to the memorial when we lived in front of it. This is so sad and should have never happened. Rest in Peace to all the victims. 🙏🏻

[@sarahbell6120]

I’m so happy you covered this tragedy. You did a great job!

[@g.sergiusfidenas6650]

As usual the responsible party gets such a light punishment, expected but still infuriating.

[@craigmandall9420]

I honestly thought he would have swindled his way out of it as they so often do

[@Stroggoii]

The responsible party wasn't punished at all. The Emmett Roes of the world are just masks for the loan sharks of the world who demand companies operate like this for the sake of extracting as much money as they can int he form of dividends, then declare bankruptcy and go on to do it again somewhere else. Until shareholders are made personally liable for debt incurred through business malpractice this will continue happening.

[@RepresentWV]

@@craigmandall9420 He did, you can tell just by looking at him he'd swindle his way out of anything, even if he had to get on his hands and knees to do it.

[@cannpdx781]

Unfortunately the idea that the company " CREATES JOBS " so give them extra leeway is still occurring. I've worked at many industrial sites, areospace, food canning, etc.. And its mindboggling what is still allowed when it comes to employees safety. We also always know when the " surprise inspection is coming " the company has us spend half the morning basically hiding things. And all these companies have employee safety classes, have us all sign we took it. Its basically to protect the company from labor and industrie claims and nothing else.

[@majungasaurusaaaa]

Jobs over safety any day. Most of us are willing to take risks to make a buck. Hard to talk safety when you have no source of income.

[@cannpdx781]

@majungasaurusaaaa yes until you are injured, then it's the light duty, no overtime, loss of benefits. Dealing with Labor and Industries. Horrible health care because it's not about you it's about your employer and their rights. Believe me I'm crippled because I was injured, kept working until they laid me off because I'm injured. These companies need the GOVERNMENT UP THEIR ASS ALL THE TIME.

[@soapjayson3358]

Love your content. You are uber respectful when dealing with deep topics

[@DanielleWhite]

I remember hearing a great deal about this fire often in the period from TV news and papers in despite living in Scranton, PA, because Imperial Food Products operated a plant in the area (their first) and the North Carolina fire brought increased scrutiny by to their other plants.

[@EvanP88]

My mom worked at Richmond Memorial Hospital in Rockingham and handled insurance and arranged counselling for the victims, my dad was an EMT who responded to the fire. My grandmother was the CNO at Richmond when this happened and she’s told me how bad it was, bodies and bodies being wheeled in and put in the hallways of the ER because they were out of room, there were even bodies laid outside the main entrance of the hospital. Horrific.

[@donarey7163]

I look forward to these Fascinating Horror videos. The tone is factual, respectful and detailed. Thanks for such an interesting presentation.

[@FullMetalBaldo]

He built a deadly trap and he *got away with 4 years of *prison? Unbelievable!

[@SkunkApe407]

What's unbelievable is how you butched such a simple sentence. He GOT away with four years of prison.

[@SpicyTexan64]

prision is pretty roughion

[@afromans170]

@@SkunkApe407 If you're gonna be a grammar Nazi, at least spell butchered right.

[@Cynthiabecker24]

@@SkunkApe407 seriously? THAT'S your takeaway??? Guess you'd be a cheap shout🍻.

[@AnonEyeMouse]

@@SkunkApe407 BUTCHERED. If you are going to play the grammar/spelling Nazi role then FFS check your own work.

[@almilhouse9059]

How sad, it just shows how things can go wrong, if you work in a building I'd highly recommend knowing where exits are and also make it your business to know if they are actually usable.... No locks, no blockages etc.... I remember as an apprentice years ago doing electrical work and maintenance in many buildings and they'd use fire escapes for storage..... Ridiculous to be honest as these areas should be kept clear, I'd actually question it in some places as it was that bad.

[@ecm84ee]

This should be a responsibility of employers to tell workers where the exit is and meeting place to make sure everyone is out.

[@markus7166]

Imagine a company locking an emergency exit 🤦🏼‍♂️😂

[@markus7166]

You must have grown up in the 60s. I've never ever heard of a company blocking a fire escape 😂

[@dropbear9655]

I remember my manager laughing at me cos I mentioned the back door to our restaurant should always be unlocked "oh it always is" yeah most of the time it is but the day the kitchen catches fire and someone's stuck out back most of the time isn't good enough

[@RichTapestry]

@@markus7166 You've never heard of it? Well! It must never happen then, seen as you are all-knowing and all-seeing. 😂 emoji indeed!

[@pitsnipe5559]

I once attended a safety course where this tragedy was used as a case study. When that session was finished the instructor told us that one of the victims was her cousin.

[@norunninginthehallway]

i live in a small town just outside of hamlet and it’s insane how many people here have never heard of it.

[@elizabethhair9017]

love the clear narration, always interesting.

[@maylalyons677]

A little bit of fascinating horror before work. It's gonna be a good day!

[@thrashthrasherson3803]

Watching from Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia! Greetings to all fellow Fascinating Horror fans around the world!!!

[@stuart8663]

Hi from Brisbane.

[@Cynthiabecker24]

Gday Melbourne Australia......what a great time for us to get this upload.

[@thrashthrasherson3803]

@@stuart8663 hi neighbour! 😀

[@marvindebot3264]

Greets from Maleny

[@thrashthrasherson3803]

@@marvindebot3264 greets from Nambour 😀

[@Agl1432]

This has become one of my favorite YT channels, I'm hooked on these all stories. I really enjoy your narrating style. I've watched every video, always looking forward to new content.

[@JRMilward]

"If the plant were to close, it would be devastating to the local economy." Pretty sure all the ignoring regulations, cutting corners, and other forms of negligence and greed that caused the deadly fire and deaths was pretty damn devastating.

[@TheStBlaine]

I work in the Life safety industry, mostly fire alarm design. This factory is going to give me nightmares.

[@georgehill8285]

The decision to not call the closest firefighters for backup is insane. No matter how racist you are, if you’re trapped in a fire, you’d probably rather be rescued quickly and won’t really care by who. Shame on that fire chief.

[@xr6lad]

He should be named and shamed. Probably still alive.

[@ThyPandora]

Racism is a powerfully stupid thing.

[@mushyroom9569]

Or maybe he wasn’t racist at all and sending a volunteer fire force trained for residential fires into an industrial fire is a really bad idea.

[@toomanyaccounts]

@@mushyroom9569 that would then be up to the volunteer firefighters on whether they wanted to take the risk. they could help the main firefighters by bringing water, supplies, helping with the injured

[@clemhfandango.]

@@mushyroom9569 Jesus Fucking Christ! The mental gymnastics of some people try to excuse obvious racism. It was a fire emergency, meaning that any able and willing person to assist is vital, but that racist moron decided that black firemen aren't qualified to assist in this FIRE emergency. Just sit in the corner and THINK about it.

[@IraFuse1]

My mother in law was critically burned in this disaster. It is a miracle she survived.

[@marshallhackett990]

Your work--particularly covering disaster stories of the Anglosphere--continue to fascinate--and horrify us all. Your work is most appreciated.

[@MaryFaulds]

The footprints on the door that was locked is haunting

[@TehZergRush]

This is so heartbreaking and a strong reminder to never do anything for your employer that makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable and to never shy away from reporting your employer if they're skirting safety practices and regulations. The point of work is to have your life outside of it, never risk that! Also, that fire chief, wow, just wow. That's sincerely one of the most shameful things I've heard. RIP to all those workers.

[@dylanhuculak8458]

I'm guessing this time won't be a story about how the chickens rescued everyone.

[@Unownshipper]

Disney would've made it into a movie by now.

[@TheMouseAvenger]

@@Unownshipper Come on, give Disney more credit than that

[@nikobellic570]

Why would chickens rescue their slaughterers? I have found a flaw in your imaginary story

[@Unownshipper]

@@TheMouseAvenger You're right. DreamWorks.

[@fredrickseiler4492]

Mind blowing that stuff like this happened as late as 1991. I'd expect something like this in the 30's or 40's, not the 90's.

[@jbvap]

This is wild, I travel down to hamlet a lot for work and I’ve never heard of this. I’m a tri-state guy and I love it down there, it’s very pretty and the people all have that southern hospitality.

[@KATHIESHOES]

I always react to your uploads with mixed emotions. I am eager to listen because of your quality handling of these delicate stories. You give the dead the respect they deserve and tell their stories so no one forgets! On the other hand, these tragedies are always the result of greedy, selfish people who line their pockets with the blood of others!

[@mwblackbelt]

I well remember this incident. My family was living in Fayetteville NC at the time and I had to drive thru Hamlet on the way home. The whole town was in mourning after this happened. It was horrible.

[@JennyfaninSweden]

Nepotism and corruption, a disaster waiting to happen. Never heard of this terrible event, thank you for the education!

[@healinggrounds19]

Not just that, but there was also racism at play here.

[@FireMadeFleshII]

I love how they use terms like "benign neglect" to sugarcoat the obvious truth of the matter. This wasn't some freak accident. It was a compounded series of events that was by all means intentional because GREED. Four years in prison for MURDERING twenty-five people (basically serial killer status) & injuring fifty-four others--which likely put those former employees out of work for a substantial amount of time if not flat out disabled them through either physical injuries and/or PTSD--this is a true horror story.--And you know they didn't put the dad in general population. 😒 Since this disaster, not only should the safety protocols been upgraded, but the accountability of the employers should be A LOT more than increased fines for violations

[@karmagirl314]

"Officially uncertain... but may have been related to personal prejudice". That was well handled. I love the tact you so often use when handling these tragedies.

[@AliCat713]

Holy crap. That's my hometown. I was in high school when it happened. All that to say, I'm just in shock that one of my most-watched channels would cover this.

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Are you serious Drove through there and ate at the diner on every trip to Myrtle Beach. Usually stopped and ate sandwiches in the park on the way back home.

[@hdrenginedevelopment7507]

I work in these kinds of industrial food plants as a contractor and many of them are old repurposed buildings like this that makes me wonder how much fire code they have been grandfathered past over the years. We call these kinds of bodge job makeshift fixes like that hydraulic line repair "chicken plant engineering" for a reason. Chicken is cheap because it is the most efficient converter of feed to protein weight out there, it is produced and processed in these smaller rural southern areas where labor, taxes, and regulations are cheap, and is a very high volume low margin industry, so none of these plants are rich by any stretch. Many of these plants are also the only major employer for much of their surrounding area. Downtime is measured in 1000's of dollars per min, and there is always high pressure to keep stuff running, even with a good safety program in place. There are some things you just don't bodge together no matter what, and hydraulic equipment, ammonia refrigeration, and any life safety devices are some of them.

[@fouresterofthetrees287]

I had moved to central NC about a year before this. It was big news at the time. People still talk about it.

[@sweetwolfsteve5583]

That's so messed up that the owner only served four years for 25 deaths

[@jimbrown5091]

Hamlet, NC is about 65 miles from where I went to high school. I remember this event well. As I recall one of our teachers lost a sibling in the fire.

[@melissamcclain34]

Wow I'd forgotten all about this, being born and raised about an hour from Hamlet NC this tragedy took place during the time I was in middle school. I had forgotten all about until seeing this video. I'll never understand how the owner only served 4 years in prison while the families are left to mourn their loved ones forever.

[@Tarkov.]

Interesting topic choice, seem to be seeing more and more videos about similar fires.

[@cooleddie1438]

Almost like they want a food shortage after warning about food shortages 🤔

[@lossnt557]

@@cooleddie1438 what

[@timiwer]

@@lossnt557 I dont get it either 😂

[@lossnt557]

@@timiwer he is going through something

[@basbleupeaunoire]

@@cooleddie1438 Get a grip.

[@amydamjanovic9183]

Apparently Roe moved this plant to Hamlet from Pennsylvania because in Philly inspectors told him to bring the plant there up to code and abide by regulations or it would be shut down. He didn’t want to pony up the dough, so he moved it to the South where he knew they were way more lax.

[@XalesTardis]

"The Roes never applied for many of the licenses required to run the business, as doing so would have cost a great deal of money, and caused them to be subjected to surprise inspections." "One of these fire disabled the sprinkler system that had been put in place by the previous tenant of the building." Welp...we know where this is going.

[@nevershine6793]

I took up donations for the victims when I was a kid enrolled at an afterschool program in Fayetteville, NC. At the time, I had no idea this incident would have been so big.

[@Straswa]

Great vid FH. RIP to those 25 souls lost and condolences to their families.