Officials Release Names Of Construction Workers Killed In SouthPark Fire

Caryn Little, Deeandra Michel, DJ Beal, Richard Groves, Trish Williford,

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The two men killed in a massive construction fire in SouthPark have been positively identified. The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office says Demonte Sherrill and Ruben Holmes were both killed in the fire. Their remains were found on Friday, May 19th.

Both men were part of the construction crew working on the upscale apartment buildings when the fire broke out. Read below for full details on the deadly fire.

Original Story (Posted: May 18, 2023):

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Officials from the City of Charlotte held a media briefing Friday. Fire Chief Reginald Johnson confirmed that the fire was started by a spray insulation trailer on the ground floor. Chief Johnson also confirmed that two construction workers lost their lives in the fire.

Mayor Vi Lyles named one of the deceased workers as Demonte Sherrill.

Charlotte Police Chief Johnny Jennings and District 6 Representative, Tariq Bokhari, also delivered remarks.

More than 90 firefighters were called to battle a massive fire at an apartment complex that was under construction near SouthPark Mall Thursday. The fire started shortly after 9am on Liberty Row Drive.

Fifteen construction workers were rescued by firefighters. Fire officials say two maydays were called during the rescue missions and firefighters had to go in to assist their colleagues who called the maydays.

Video from the scene showed a construction worker was trapped in the crane that was in the middle of the construction zone. That worker was rescued from the crane a short time later. He was transported to a local hospital with non life threatening injuries.

Fire officials say the fire was extremely fast moving and had temperatures at more than 2,000 degrees. Firefighters also had to deal with several addition spot fires and rooftop fires that were caused by embers.

SouthPark Mall was closed due to the proximity of the fire and motorists were advised to stay away from the area as several roads were closed. Officials asked the public to not call 911 unless there is an absolute emergency.

“The men and women of this department put themselves in harm’s way and actually had to call for assistance themselves to get out of this fire. That’s how fast it was moving,” Fire Chief Reginald Johnson said. “I’m proud of the work that we’ve done here.” Watch Chief Johnson’s full media conference above.