BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Discount retailer Dollar General is facing more than $1.5 million in fines for safety violations at stores across the southeast.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said its inspectors discovered Dollar General stores ignored federal safety standards, exposing employees to dangerous working conditions. That includes some local stores -- three Dollar General stores in Burke County were recently shut down after inspections there.
The fire marshal’s office in Burke County said it received a half dozen complaints about safety concerns in the stores where it said it found merchandise blocking aisles and emergency exits.
Channel 9′s Dave Faherty went to the stores near Rutherford College, Glenn Alpine along Highway 70, and Oak Hill along Highway 181, north of Morganton, where fire marshals ordered temporary closures.
The store in Rutherford College had a sign posted on the door, closing it to the public. Faherty learned it has already been inspected three times over the last two months and fined more than $2,000 because of concerns about a faulty sprinkler system and not enough fire extinguishers. The fire marshal’s office said that sprinkler system has not been serviced since 2017.
Fire officials also said inspections at stores in Oak Hill and Glen Alpine found problems near emergency exits and in some of the aisles “due to the excessive storage of combustibles on retail floor space throughout the building, and on rolling carts.” Both stores were fined $250 and have since reopened.
“Of course, getting out of the store in the event of an emergency, ensuring they can get to an emergency exit in an adequate amount of time,” said Robert Bishop, deputy fire marshal, highlighting important safety measures required of the stores.
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Customer Millie McCather said she shops at Dollar General because it’s close to her home, even if it has been a struggle to get through some of aisles. She said it got so bad at her store that she considered writing their corporate offices.
“The aisles were so full until you couldn’t get down the aisle to get what you wanted out of it. She said, ‘Come back tomorrow, maybe it will be better,’” McCather said.
OSHA said that since 2017, it has inspected 182 Dollar Generals nationwide, finding unsafe conditions at some, putting workers at risk if they needed to evacuate the store quickly. Fire officials said they found multiple fire code violations, including blocked emergency exits, inadequate amount of fire extinguishers, open voids in breaker panels, and a fire sprinkler system that hasn’t received required maintenance since 2019.
Channel 9 reached out to Dollar General about the OSHA inspections and the closures in Burke County. The company responded saying it got the email but did not respond to the issues.
(WATCH BELOW: Dollar General faces more than $1.5M in fines for safety violations)
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