CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte fire leaders presented their after-action report on Monday, laying out their challenges and the lessons learned from the deadly fire at a SouthPark construction site in 2023.
It was May 18, 2023, when a fire started at a construction site in south Charlotte around 9 a.m. Over the next 45 minutes, the fire grew to a five-alarm response, triggering 90 units and more than 200 firefighters to the scene.
Charlotte Fire Department Chief Reginald Johnson presented the findings to Charlotte City Council's Housing, Safety and Community Committee. One major focus? The lack of an inspection.
"We were not called to come there and do an inspection," Johnson said. "And the reality is we were never notified that vertical construction had even started in that building."
The department has previously blamed the builder and contractor for a communication failure. An inspection would have likely identified the lack of a required pre-safety plan and water source within the building. Charlotte Fire has made changes to address the failure since the deadly fire.
"We added 12 inspectors to fire prevention that allows us to make a new construction team that does nothing but focus on new construction to make sure that they're meeting the safety requirements," Johnson said. "Which would include making sure you have working standpipes when you're supposed to, sprinklers, etc."
Before the SouthPark fire, developers were required to reach out to the Fire Marshal's Office for inspections. Johnson said the office is now being proactive by working directly with the county's permitting process.
"Right now, Fire is being engaged in pre-permitting conversations and meetings where we weren’t before," Johnson explained.
In January, the state implemented new fire codes because of the SouthPark fire and construction site superintendents must have a certification from the National Fire Protection Association.
Johnson also told councilmembers that the fire spread faster than their system could keep up, saying there was a lack of "radio discipline." We're also awaiting a separate report from the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.
In May, the families of the two workers killed in the fire, Reuben Holmes and Demonte Sherrill, filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The families claim the companies involved in the construction project could have prevented their deaths if they'd taken the right safety measures.
The Department of Labor fined a handful of contractors on the project for safety violations and required them to make improvements.