Tragic deaths raise interest in fire codes

Two nightclub tragedies in which 117 people were trampled or burned to death in the span of a week have cities across the nation rewriting old fire and building codes and demanding immediate inspections to head off more disasters.

Less than a day after a band's pyrotechnics turned a small Rhode Island club into a raging inferno that killed 96 -- nearly a third of the crowd -- the governor of neighboring Massachusetts mobilized a task force to begin immediate, unannounced inspections of every nightclub in the state.

Missouri state fire marshal Bill Farr said he hopes the Rhode Island blaze raises awareness of the need for safety regulations. Missouri has no fire code for privately owned buildings, although larger cities have their own.

"It's always a shame to get anything done in the United States as far as code adoption, it takes large life loss," Farr said.

Just days before the West Warwick, R.I., blaze, officials in Chicago were discussing requiring clubs to install panic bars, the push bars commonly found on movie theater doors, following a deadly stampede early Monday at the city's E2 nightclub.

Local pyrotechnics

In Cape Girardeau and Jackson, officials say fire and building codes would not allow for a pyrotechnic show to be performed in a building similar to the club in West Warwick.

But Cape Girardeau Fire Department battalion chief Tom Hinkebein warned that there's nothing that can be done if the participants don't comply with the law.

"What happened there could happen anywhere, because they didn't have the proper paperwork and no one knew they were going to have fireworks," Hinkebein said. "We would not allow pyrotechnics in that type of structure."

Mark Hasheider, Cape Girardeau's interim fire chief, said the Show Me Center is the only building in the city that would be allowed to hold such a show. Hinkebein added that he has already been in contact with a technician who will be handling a pyrotechnic show for Toby Keith's concert on March 9. Hinkebein said two extinguishers on each side of the stage will be manned.

The Show Me Center is much safer than any wood structure, such as the nightclub that caught fire in Rhode Island. A sprinkler system is installed at the Show Me Center, Hinkebein said.

As far as overcrowding, Cape Girardeau fire officials say the fire department takes a very active role in making sure bar and restaurant owners comply with building occupancy limits.

Firefighters are on duty at special downtown events such as Riverfest and the Fourth of July fireworks show and check in on establishments to make sure they're not overcrowded.

"We have required owners and managers to deny access to patrons and have some leave the building because of occupancy," Hasheider said. "We have a couple of things going for us in Cape. One is the fire code and one is we're able to stay on top of events going on in the community. And we have very educated bar and restaurant owners who follow the regulations. We've worked with them over a number of years and they're good to work with."

In Jackson, chief Brad Golden said building codes are in place to prevent tragedies from happening. Anyone who would want to do a pyrotechnic show would have to get permission from the city, he said.

Calls for changes

Tragedies like the stampede in Chicago and Thursday night's fire in West Warwick, R.I., often spur quick criticism of security and fire code changes.

In 1995, the state of Maine began regulating indoor pyrotechnics after four people were hospitalized because a "flash pot" exploded at Portland, Maine's T-Birds nightclub.

Los Angeles, which has thousands of clubs, hotels and restaurants, has never had a deadly nightclub fire, but it has learned from disasters elsewhere, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

After a 1942 blaze in Boston killed 492 trapped inside the Cocoanut Grove club, city leaders in Los Angeles passed a law there requiring panic bars on nightclub doors. It now has one of the strictest fire safety codes in the world.

"Every single line in that code is the result of a disaster," Humphrey said.

In the country music capital of Nashville, Tenn., officials have begun spot checks to confirm that all nightclubs had unlocked exits and that those using fireworks had fire inspectors to supervise their use. And in the District of Columbia, Mayor Anthony Williams told aides to inspect clubs and meet with owners to ensure they meet building codes.

Staff writer Bob Miller contributed to this report