CHARLOTTE — The North Carolina Department of Labor has reached a settlement with two of three companies that were fined for a deadly fire at a SouthPark construction site.
Firefighters rescued 15 people on May 18, 2023 after a five-alarm fire broke out at an apartment complex being built on Liberty Row Road near Fairview Road. Two workers, Ruben Holmes and Demonte Sherrill, were killed.
In November, the companies building the complex were cited for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina. The Department of Labor cited MCRT Carolinas Construction LLC, Kentucky Overhead Door Inc. DBA Baker Insulation, and Diversified Insulation LLC with fines totaling more than $50,000.
On Thursday, the NCDOL told Channel 9 they have reached informal settlement agreements with MCRT Carolinas, also known as Modera South Park, and Baker Insulation.
MCRT agreed to the full penalty but the citations have been adjusted, the NCDOL said. Baker Insulation will pay a fine that was reduced from $6,250 to $4,687.50. Both are also required to make improvements to their safety and health programs.
A NCDOL spokesperson said the third company, Diversified Insulation, did not contest its penalty. It was fined $3,125.
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MCRT Carolinas was accused of failing to provide “free and unobstructed egress from all parts of the building when occupied.” The DOL said on the day of the fire, there was only one stairway and the two men who died were 463 feet -- more than a football field -- away from it.
The citation also said there was no emergency response plan or alarm system in place. Investigators found there was no air horn or siren to alert workers of the emergency.
Baker Insulation was accused of failing to have a respiratory protection program and an “inventory list of all hazardous substances in the workplace.” They also allegedly failed to “maintain copies of the required safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals and employees were not provided effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in the work area.”
As for Diversified Insulation, their citation says they “did not maintain workplace copies of the required safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical.”
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