Commercial Fires

Commercial Fires

The Rhode Island Night Club FireMany of the aforementioned top ten listed categories still apply to the commercial sector. For this blog and the available time I will focus on one specific fire to discuss and to apply our lessons learned. Without question The Station Night Club Fire in Rhode Island was the most tragic and worst case I have ever been assigned to work on. On February 20, 2003 The Station Night Club Fire was the fourth largest fatal fire in the history of the U.S. One hundred people died in this fire while attending a rock concert by the band Great White.

A converted family restaurant type structure with a glass atrium, The Station Night club was a popular location among West Warwick, Rhode Island’s young people.

The structure consisted of three main areas; the dance floor and stage with a drummer’s cove, a wraparound bar area and lounge, and the kitchen and rest room facilities in the rear of the structure. On the night of February 20th the building was packed with people in anticipation of enjoying the Great White concert. The fire started almost immediately when the band opened their concert. A total of three pyrotechnic devices that were mounted on the stage started spewing a shower of sparks vertically that had enveloped the ceiling and walls near the stage area. Unfortunately, the stage area walls and drummers cove were covered with an egg crate type acoustic foam material that quickly ignited from the sparks and rapidly spread across the ceiling.  Within approximately six minutes, the fire had raced across the ceiling and filled the building with thick black toxic smoke that would overtake the victims before they could get out of the building.  The speed and ferocity of the fire caused an all out panic by the crowd. Most everyone ran for the entrance to escape and literally jammed themselves in the front door opening.  Consequently, the front door opening became wedged with multiple layers of bodies and prevented those still inside from exiting the building.

The fire and the tragic evacuation attempt of the building were captured on video tape by a film crew that happened to be in the night club filming a story on night club safety. The video has been attached to this blog for review if you should decide to view it. An appropriate “warning” is advised to those who don’t want to see or hear real time events of people struggling to escape this very tragic fire. This video shows the fire and how it started and how 100 people died. Additionally, as the camera operator escapes the building seconds before the doorway becomes jammed with bodies, the camera operator continues to film this fire from the exterior of the building while people are struggling and screaming for help. It is unquestionably the worst video I have ever viewed, however, if you are a young person that likes to attend night clubs and gatherings with large groups of people, you should view this video to not let history repeat itself ever again.

[3] Google Images

Control Click on the link below to view video

(Please see warning listed above before viewing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOzfq9Egxeo

Moments after the band Great White started their concert, both walls along side of the stage and drummer’s cove were quickly ignited and rapidly burned upward to the ceiling and then raced across the ceiling allowing only a few minutes of time to evacuate the building.

[3] Google Images

Once the fire was extinguished by the fire department, the entire roof and most of the structure was destroyed by the fire. Upon completion of the criminal investigation of the fire by the local, state, and federal authorities, the civil investigation began and lasted approximately six weeks. During that time the remains of the stage and the drummer’s cove were removed and placed on a flatbed truck to be transported with a police escort to a special storage facility where it was reconstructed for a jury presentation.

[3] Google Images

Learning from a Tragedy

· The Night Club did not have a functioning fire suppression (sprinkler) system. Many experts have determined that a functioning sprinkler system would have slowed the progression of the fire and allowed a safe evacuation for most if not all occupants resulting in zero loss of life. [4]

· Know where most if not all of the Exits are located – A normal human reaction is to exit out of a building where you entered it. You should always make a special effort to learn where alternative exits are located in a structure before an incident occurs. For example, the night club had an exit located next to the stage that is commonly used by the band for loading and unloading. Unfortunately, band equipment such as large speakers and power amps were set up so that the concert attendees were not visually aware that there was an exit located there. Consequently, most people as the video shows turned and attempted to exit out of the door they entered.

· Know the codes and requirements - The codes require every building to post the maximum number of occupants allowed in the building. If you are in a crowded building that appears to be over the legal capacity allowed, you should leave immediately.

The station night club fire was a terrible tragedy. One hundred people lost their lives that were simply out to have some fun and enjoy a rock concert. This fire is listed as the fourth worst fatal fire in the history of the United States. Let’s learn from tragic mistakes so that we may never repeat them again.

References

[1] http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=952&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Major%20causes%20of%20fire&cookie%5Ftest=1
[2]http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1536&bih=619&tbm=isch&tbnid=iOwJeYRbyPzMMM:&imgrefurl=http:
//www.thedoctorstv.com/main/content/Kitchen_Fire_Safety&docid=N6SJiTTlyQBCyM&
imgurl=http
://thedoctorstv.com/files/Image/2085/D2085_13.jpg&w=450&h=300&ei=vUN6_Ica9rQG45IG4BA&z
oom=1&iact=rc&dur=340&sig=104063550712263139561&page=2&tbnh=140&tbnw=202&start=24
&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:32,s:0,i:188&tx=84&ty=85

[3] Google Images

https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=619&q=The+
night+club+fire&oq=The+night+club+fire&gs_l=img.12...13667.20851.0.23539.19.14
.0.5.2.0.81.824.14.14.0...0.0...1ac.1.aG75s_3Z-Tg

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire