Local fire departments are making club inspections more thorough after the recent fire at The Station in Warwick, Rhode Island, and the stampeding deaths at E2 in Chicago.
Boston and surrounding towns and cities are increasing the number of inspections, and enforcing a ban on pyrotechnics for all businesses with liquor and entertainment licenses.
According to Somerville Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Graney, inspectors were sent out the day after the tragic fire in Warwick. The fire claimed 98 lives when the band's pyrotechnics set the non-fire retardant sound insulation ablaze. "Right after the initial report from Rhode Island, we were inspecting some of the high occupancy places," Graney said.
Boston officials assembled temporary teams in order to have inspections begin immediately. Within a week's time, the inspection teams had surveyed 21 high-occupancy buildings with both liquor and entertainment licenses. Nothing "of immediate concern" was found, according to Graney.
One of the first clubs inspected was Johnny D's in Davis Square, a restaurant that often features live music. Johnny D's Manager Sean Sturgis said that the inspections did not pose any problems. "They check your exits, make sure you have exit lights, nothing in front of the exits. If you have any materials, you have to show receipts to make sure they're fire retardant," Sturgis said. "We stay within our limits."
A permanent task force will eventually replace the inspection teams. The taskforce will have a member from the Inspectional Services Department (ISD), from the Board of Health, the Fire Prevention Bureau, and a member from the Licensing Committee. "We'll have access to all the [documents] pertaining to occupancies that have liquor licenses and entertainment licenses," Graney said.
The new taskforce will inspect clubs at random, including while patrons are present. "Our plan is to go where we think there could be the most problem with occupancy," Graney said. As most current inspections are done during the daytime, the taskforce will give inspectors a chance to see how fire prevention is practiced while a club is in operation. If they find the club unacceptable, it would be immediately shutdown.
Pyrotechnics, such as those used at The Station in Rhode Island, have been permanently banned from Boston clubs and in surrounding areas. "We're not permitted to license anyone to have open flames or smoke machines," Graney said.
At Johnny D's the new law had no effect because pyrotechnics were never allowed, according to Sturgis. "We don't have anything, no special effects -- none of that. The owners don't go for that," he said. These rules include anything that blocks vision, and extra lighting.
"In hindsight, it's great," Sturgis said.
The taskforce will also perform random occupancy checks to make sure a club is not overcrowded by "dumping" all the patrons. "They'd move everybody out and then re-check them in," Graney said.
Sturgis said this would not cause a problem as long as clubs are careful to make sure they know how many people leave before more are let in. "We have a ticket count -- we know how many tickets go out so we know how many people go in," he said.
Graney says a building's age will contribute to the need for inspections. The Somerville Theatre will be inspected before business hours during next week. "Because of the building's age and occupancy load, we just want to make sure about the exits," Graney said.
There will be a fire exit drill that consists of shutting off the power to the theater and making sure all emergency systems are working and exit doors open freely. "We want to make sure that everyone that goes to any place to be entertained is going to be safe," Graney said.
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