Chicago Fire Department steps up club inspections

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Fire Department is stepping up inspections of nightclubs in the wake of a deadly fire at a Rhode Island club and a stampede at a Chicago night spot in the last week.

Fire commissioner James Joyce said Saturday that inspections of 17 establishments around the city Friday night turned up a handful of violations such as unlit exit signs and locked or blocked rear doors.

Twenty-one people died at the E2 nightclub on the city's south side on Feb. 17, many crushed in a stampede to the front door. City attorneys said the club's owner did not follow a court order from last summer that barred the use of the second floor of the nightclub building due to housing code violations, including poorly marked exits.

Joyce said none of the spots inspected Friday was overcrowded and that there was no evidence of any unlawful use of pyrotechnics like the ones that sparked the fire in Rhode Island.

The increased inspections -- more were scheduled for Saturday night -- come at a time when city attorneys are reviewing all the venues' records to determine if they have any prior or current court cases. And Joyce said the department has received more anonymous tips in the last week about problems at various night clubs.

Joyce said Chicago has strict requirements regarding the use of pyrotechnics, allowing only clubs with fire resistant curtains and venting systems to use them.

Fire chief Dennis Gault said the requirements are so stringent that they "eliminate all but the largest of venues from even applying" for permits to use pyrotechnics.

Joyce said inspections like the ones conducted Friday night are routine. In fact, he said the fire department had conducted five inspections of the E2 nightclub in the two years before the stampede.

Joyce said the second floor nightclub was closed during each of the five visits.

The last inspection was conducted Oct. 5. Joyce said Saturday that the fire department did not know of the judge's order at the time of the inspection.

Larry Langford, spokesman for the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, acknowledged that inspections may have been at a time of day when the club wasn't expected to have a crowd.

Meanwhile, police said they are continuing to investigate the E2 stampede. Police released few details about what Superintendent Terry Hillard called "one of the largest and most complex death investigations in recent history."

But chief of detectives Philip Cline said police have asked the Cook County state's attorney's office for a grand jury subpoena of the club's records.

Friends and family members of those killed at E2 gathered at a mass memorial Saturday afternoon at Salem Baptist Church on Chicago's far south side. A relief fund for the children of those who died was announced at the service.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were among those who addressed the roughly 1,000 people that filled the church. Others watched the service as it was broadcast in an adjoining gymnasium, the church basement and an annex building.

Blagojevich told mourners that he was humbled by their courage.

"There are moments in this journey when the hole in our hearts is so great, so overwhelming, that every other day disappears; our love and our pain seem to become one unbearable burden," he said.