National team arrives to make sense of QVC warehouse fire that killed 1

Three days after a fire at a QVC manufacturing plant in the wee hours of Saturday morning killed one and destroyed most of the building, questions linger for investigators, employers and safety experts.

Posted 4:11 p.m. Dec 21, 2021 — Updated 10:05 p.m. Dec 22, 2021

Joe Fisher

, WRAL reporter

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Three days after a fire at a QVC distribution center in the wee hours of Saturday morning killed one and destroyed most of the building, questions linger for investigators, employers and safety experts. More help is on the way.

Another group of investigators arrived in Edgecombe County Tuesday with special equipment to try to figure out what happened. A National Response Team, a branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has started a joint investigation. In addition, fire teams from six surrounding counties responded to the call around 2 a.m. Saturday.

The scale of the fire prompted Edgecombe County to call on the team for help. Approximately 75 percent of the 1.5-million square foot facility was damaged in the fire. The facility is the company’s second-largest fulfillment center processing around "25% to 30% of volume," according to company statements.

On its website, Quarate Retail Group, the parent company of QVC and HSN, posted Monday that orders placed beginning Saturday, December 18, could no longer be guaranteed to arrive in time for Christmas.

The Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce is accepting monetary donations for the QVC employees who are without a job as a result of the fire. Checks, made payable to The Community Development Foundation of Rocky Mount, can be mailed to Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce, 100 Coastline St. #200, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.

You can also help with donations for food, gifts and financial support through a donation to United Way Tar River Region online and by mail to:

United Way Tar River Region

2501 Sunset Avenue

Rocky Mount, NC 27804

It will likely be some time before the full impact of the fire, including any impact on QVC products and orders at the Rocky Mount facility, is realized. In a 2006 Tar Heel Traveler report, Scott Mason said the facility was roughly the size of 30 football fields.

The distribution center opened in Rocky Mount in 1999 and expanded in February 2011. Edgecombe County Manager Eric Evans said there are likely employees who have been working with QVC since 2000. Around 1,200 people work at the facility on an average day — with that number likely inflated during this time of year due to the holiday shopping season.

In 2009, a similar ATF team was deployed to Garner after an explosion at a ConAgra Foods plant that led to several deaths.

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