SEPTEMBER -- A ruptured hydraulic line at the Imperial Food Products chicken processing plant in Hamlet causes a massive fire that kills 25 people and injures 56.

1996

FEBRUARY -- Six family members are killed in a house fire in Alexander County. The fire was caused by the home's electrical system.

MARCH -- A fire at the Scotch Meadow Rest Home in Laurinburg kills eight elderly men after a defective outlet short-circuits and ignites linens on a bed.

MAY -- A fire at the Phi Gamma Delta house at UNC-Chapel Hill kills five students. The fire was started by a smoldering cigarette butt left in a trash can. The fraternity house did not have sprinklers.

1997

FEBRUARY -- A rental house fire kills a sleeping family of five in Dunn, including three children ages 2, 5 and 7. Investigators say that a cigarette was to blame and that the home had no fire alarm.

2002

FEBRUARY -- Janet Danahey sets a fire at the Campus Walk Apartments in Greensboro, in what she describes as a prank against an ex-boyfriend. Four students are killed in the blaze. Danahey is charged with four counts of first degree murder and a single count of first degree arson.

MAY -- Eight inmates are killed in a fire at the Mitchell County jail after a space heater ignites a stack of cardboard in a building behind the jail.

2007

OCTOBER -- Seven South Carolina students are killed in an early morning fire at a beach house in Ocean Isle Beach.

(COMPILED BY BROOKE CAIN)

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.