HAMLET — The city of Hamlet will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Imperial Foods fire with a memorial service Sept. 3 honoring the 25 workers who lost their lives and 54 others who were injured.
The service will take place at 10 a.m. at the Imperial Foods Memorial site, located at the corner of Bridges and Spears streets. The event is open to the public. The city previously hosted a memorial service in 2021 for the 30th anniversary.
“We plan to gather to mark the 35th anniversary of the Imperial Foods fire, where we will pause to remember and honor the lives lost and all those whose lives were forever changed by this tragedy. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the families, survivors, first responders, firefighters, law enforcement officers, medical personnel, volunteers, and all who answered the call that day and in the days that followed. We hope you can join us to remember, to honor, and to ensure that the lives and legacy of those we lost are never forgotten,” reads the announcement on the city’s website.
Those who lost their lives on Sept. 3, 1991, were David Michael Albright, Peggy Anderson, Mary Alice Arnold Quick, Margaret Banks, Josephine Barrington, Fred Barrington Jr., Elizabeth Ann Bellamy, Gail V. Campbell, Rosie Ann Chambers, Josie M. Coulter, Philip R. Dawkins, John Robert Gagnon, Rose Marie Gibson Peele, Brenda Gail Kelly, Bertha Jarrell, Janice Marie Wall Lynch, Michael Morrison, Martha A. Ratliff, Cynthia Marie Ratliff, Donald Bruce Rich, Minnie Mae Thompson, Mary Lillian Wall, Cynthia S. Wall, Jeffrey Antonia Webb and Rose Lynette Wilkins.
Guest speakers for the event include N.C. Department of Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and State Fire Marshal Brian Taylor.
The Sept. 3, 1991, fire began after a hydraulic line ruptured and sprayed fluid onto a hot deep fryer. Many workers were unable to escape because several exit doors had been padlocked.