Imperial Food Products Plant, Hamlet, North Carolina, June 1994

Twenty-five employees died and fifty-six were injured in a fire that swept through this chicken processing
plant on September 3, 1991. Nearly all of the victims died of smoke inhalation while trying to escape
through exits that were illegally blocked or padlocked. The plant had no fire alarm, no automatic
sprinklers, and one fire extinguisher. Emmett J. Roe, owner of Imperial Food Products, pleaded guilty
to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to almost twenty years in prison. Loretta Goodwin, a
worker who survived the fire, claimed that the company kept the doors locked to prevent employees
from stealing chickens.