Gavin Stone | Anson Record
The memorial at the site of the Imperial Foods plant in Hamlet.
Gavin Stone | Anson Record
The marble memorial commemorating the death of the 25 workers who were killed, the 54 people injured and the 49 children who were orphaned following the fire on Sept. 3, 1991.
HAMLET — The City of Hamlet will hold a service in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Imperial Foods fire which claimed the lives of 25 workers, injured many more and forever changed the lives of countless others, on Sept. 3.
Those who lost their lives on Sept. 3, 1991 were: Josephine Barrington, Peggy Anderson, Mary Lillian Wall, Philip R. Dawkins, Minnie Mae Thompson, Janice Marie Wall Lynch, Elizabeth Ann Bellamy, Cynthia S. Wall, Josie M. Coulter, Bertha Jarrell, John Robert Gagnon, Rose Marie Gibson Peele, Mary Alice Arnold Quick, Fred Barrington Jr., Martha A. Ratliff, Gail V. Campbell, Rosie Ann Chambers, Michael Morrison, Rose Lynette Wilkins, Brenda Gail Kelly, David Michael Albright, Margaret Banks, Donald Bruce Rich, Jeffrey Antonia Webb, and Cynthia Marie Ratliff.
The service will begin at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 3 on Bridges Street in Hamlet at the site of the memorial. The event is open to the public.
The City of Hamlet will give an introduction, which will be followed by an introduction and remarks by Rev. Dr. Tommy Legrand. There will be a recognition of state officials: Commissioner of Insurance Mike Causey and Chief State Fire Marshall Brian Taylor.
Following this will be a recognition of the victims and their families, with closing remarks from the City of Hamlet.