Inhumane Factories - NYTimes.com The news from Pakistan about two factory fires killing more than 300 workers, most of them trapped by locked doors and barred windows, reminds us that the circumstances of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 are still with us ("Lax Regulations Blamed as Fires Kill Hundreds in Pakistan," news article, Sept. As long as we are willing to wear and use cheap goods produced by workers toiling in inhumane factories, these deaths will continue. These devastating scenes a world away can easily occur again in American factories, because this is what deregulation will look like. The writer is the author of "Triangle," a novel.