HistoricFires

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Apr 3, 2024

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Running head: HISTORIC FIRES 1 Historic Fires Jeffrey Landis Columbia Southern University FIR 3306 Patrick Kelly

HISTORIC FIRES 2 Historic Fires As the years have past there have been many life-changing events. This includes fire tragedies along with many other disasters. These tragedies have resulted in many significant changes to the way that we do business in the fire service. These changes include alterations in building and fire codes around the world today make it safer for everyone. We will fist start by talking about the deadliest fire that happened on U.S soil. This fire was at a Boston nightclub during the WWII era in 1942. The Cocoanut Grove was a multi storied concrete constructed nightclub, and was a very popular venue, a new bar, the New Broadway Lounge, had recently opened within the nightclub. The nightclub was very crowded, with some estimates as high as a thousand people were inside. So occupancy issues were already a factor during this particular incident. According to the literature, the fire was first noticed around 10:15 p.m. in the Melody Lounge, which was located in the basement. According to witnesses, it immediately spread, rapidly evolving throughout the Melody Lounge between the false cloth ceiling and the plywood ceiling above it, and then ascended the stairway. Those that tried to escape where over come near the exits by great heat by fire, and of the gaseous material pouring through them at the time. Within five minutes after the fire, after it was first seen in the basement room, it had entirely navigated the street floor of the main building and had passed to the entrance to the Broadway Lounge pouring out of the exits on Piedmont Street, Shawmut Street and Broadway, and multiple egress doors were locked (Crawford, 2011, p. 155). Approximately 492 people died that night, and over 100 people were injured, fire sprinklers were not required during that time period. This fire was deemed as unknown per the article. Building and fire codes changed as a result of this, along with locked doors on means of egress.

HISTORIC FIRES 3 The next historic fire was The MGM Grand Hotel Fire in Las Vegas in 1980. This was a multi story high-rise and casino, so you can imagine the occupancy at that time. According to the literature the fire began in the restaurant area on the casino level, and it was a non-sprinkled section of the building. This began with faulty electrical wiring in a concealed crawl space. Once the fire began, it then spread rapidly by being fueled by flammable furnishings, which included flammable wall covering. This including PVC plastic piping glue, and plastic mirrors. During this historic fire, 85 people lost their lives, and 650 went to the hospital. Smoke had travel through the halls and moved upwards, trapping many people on the upper floors of the hotel. Ventilation systems were not working properly throughout the building. Lack of sprinklers were not the only issues per a U.S. district judge, after the investigation it was noted that smoke control system was installed incorrectly, fire alarms did not operate due to people not activating them. The effort to increase safety for hotels was significantly affected (Crawford, 2011, p. 156). Finally, the last fire we will talk about is The Station Night Club Fire in 2003. This fire happened in Warwick, Rhode Island at a single story nightclub. This was a popular place for eating, dancing, and drinking. It attracted hundreds of people to its venues to party. This fire was the result of indoor pyrotechnics being used for a rock bands performance that night. After the pyrotechnics were set off, they ignited flammable coverings on the ceiling that quickly spread throughout the building. Though previous inspections were completed, the inspectors missed the fact that the wall coverings were illegal, and contributed to rapid fire spread and growth. During this time period the building code did not require this building to have sprinklers, however it did comply with existing codes. After the fire had spread rapidly the majority of the patrons tried to exit through front door of which they had entered. The tragedy of

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HISTORIC FIRES 4 this incident led to retroactive fire sprinkler requirements for public assembly occupancies across the nation, as well changes to NFPA 101 Life Safety Code (Crawford, 2011, p. 162). In conclusion, many of these large historic fires have directly resulted in change to fire and building codes. These laws are intended to keep fires from occurring, or to mitigate the damage if they do (Crawford, 2011, p. 149). As stated by George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

HISTORIC FIRES 5 References Cocoanut Grove Fire. (). Retrieved from www.cocoanutgrovefire.org Crawford, J. (2011). Fire Prevention Organization And Management . New Jersey: Pearson.

HistoricFires

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