TheCommish
SAWHORSE
Today February 20, 2013 is the 10th anniversary of the Station Night Club Fire, West Warwick Road Island, 60 or so miles from my home.
While the event was tragic and effected many people in the area, the convergence of seemingly small issues issue leading up to the disaster were not new; crowed conditions, flammable decorations, exiting problems, lack of fire sprinkler protections, inspection issues, and the belief it would not happen here or to me.
The history of this type of disaster is not new, see previous post on the Roads Opera House fire and the Iroquois Theater fire, and now repeated again in the Cromañón nightclub fire in Buenos Aires, Brazil.
Just before the Statin Night Club fire in a nearby community to me, the fire inspector doing a follow up on repeated false alarm in a converted mill found foam sound proofing on the walls. The fire inspector and building official noted the problem and ordered the material removed, as expected the building owner and tenant howled in protest even after a sample was unsiftecly tested by burning in the parking lot, a flaming mass ensued. The building official and fire inspector stood their ground and the material was removed. Shortly after the Station Night Club fire the building owner was in the office of the building official thanking him and the fire inspector.
If we are doing our jobs and enforcing the code as they have developed from past tragedies, the next tragedy can be prevented. And not doubt we have prevent some from happening, the nonevent does not usually make the news.
See this article from Fire Engineering
The Station Nightclub Fire: Revisiting the Lessons - Fire Engineering
and more from Firefighter close calls.com The Station Fire-10 Years Later (The Secret List)
While the event was tragic and effected many people in the area, the convergence of seemingly small issues issue leading up to the disaster were not new; crowed conditions, flammable decorations, exiting problems, lack of fire sprinkler protections, inspection issues, and the belief it would not happen here or to me.
The history of this type of disaster is not new, see previous post on the Roads Opera House fire and the Iroquois Theater fire, and now repeated again in the Cromañón nightclub fire in Buenos Aires, Brazil.
Just before the Statin Night Club fire in a nearby community to me, the fire inspector doing a follow up on repeated false alarm in a converted mill found foam sound proofing on the walls. The fire inspector and building official noted the problem and ordered the material removed, as expected the building owner and tenant howled in protest even after a sample was unsiftecly tested by burning in the parking lot, a flaming mass ensued. The building official and fire inspector stood their ground and the material was removed. Shortly after the Station Night Club fire the building owner was in the office of the building official thanking him and the fire inspector.
If we are doing our jobs and enforcing the code as they have developed from past tragedies, the next tragedy can be prevented. And not doubt we have prevent some from happening, the nonevent does not usually make the news.
See this article from Fire Engineering
The Station Nightclub Fire: Revisiting the Lessons - Fire Engineering
and more from Firefighter close calls.com The Station Fire-10 Years Later (The Secret List)
