Brazil Nightclub Fire - Over 200 Dead

MattW

Company Man
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
6,326
Reaction score
855
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-brazil-nightclub-idUSBRE90Q04T20130128


A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic.
Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual effects set fire to soundproofing on the ceiling, local fire officials said.

It what seems a common story, it was a series of failures that led to this tragedy. The owners were in the process of renewing their fire inspection, the band purchased and used pyrotechnics for outdoor use only, doors were locked or blocked, and the fire department arrived without masks or other gear to help fight the blaze.

Sounds too much like the Rhode Island nightclub fire at a Great White performance.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/world/americas/brazil-nightclub-fire-main/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

Owners and band members arrested - one owner attempted suicide. Finger pointing and street protests have begun.
 

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
It was very much like the Rhode Island debacle, and there have been other similar ones in Russia and Argentina in recent years. The very idea of using pyrotechnics indoors, especially in crowded clubs, just makes me cringe. My father-in-law was a fire chief, and he probably would have strangled any club owner who permitted such stupid crap.

caw
 

Gretad08

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
2,842
Reaction score
494
Location
A really cool place
Terrible. What a sad and terrifying way to go. Prayers and thoughts to the many people who will feel the effects of this tragedy.
 

mirandashell

Banned
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
16,197
Reaction score
1,889
Location
England
Nightclub fires are horrendous. A dark club is difficult to evacuate anyway, even with enough exits. And the fire spreads so rapidly, due to the materials used for soundproofing and what not, that unless you are near an exit you've got very little chance.
 

MattW

Company Man
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
6,326
Reaction score
855
Nightclub fires are horrendous. A dark club is difficult to evacuate anyway, even with enough exits. And the fire spreads so rapidly, due to the materials used for soundproofing and what not, that unless you are near an exit you've got very little chance.
The soundproofing caught fire here, flash burnt, and released toxic fumes. My understanding is that burn deaths are less likely than asphyxiation.

Then there's isues with confusion, crushing, and trampling.

Tragic, but hopefully future fires can be avoided by the attention this is getting.
 

mirandashell

Banned
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
16,197
Reaction score
1,889
Location
England
I doubt it. There have been nightclub fires in the past and they still happen. Luckily they are rare but I don't they will ever not happen.
 

MattW

Company Man
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
6,326
Reaction score
855
I doubt it. There have been nightclub fires in the past and they still happen. Luckily they are rare but I don't they will ever not happen.
True. The reputable places will pay heed, but are likely up to snuff already.

The other places will continue on just skirting official shut down until there's a tragedy.
 

Kaiser-Kun

!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
6,944
Reaction score
1,915
Age
39
Location
Mexico
Some guards thought at first that it was a fight inside the club and closed the doors so that the people could not leave without paying their bills from the club.

Fucking morons.
 

regdog

The Scavengers
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
58,075
Reaction score
21,013
Location
She/Her
It was very much like the Rhode Island debacle, and there have been other similar ones in Russia and Argentina in recent years. The very idea of using pyrotechnics indoors, especially in crowded clubs, just makes me cringe. My father-in-law was a fire chief, and he probably would have strangled any club owner who permitted such stupid crap.

caw

i don't know about the fire in Brazil but in the case of Great White, they asked to use pyrotechnics in several clubs and were refused. The band's manager lit them off anyway. It happened at the Stone Pony in NJ, a club in MN I believe, and at The Station. In the Stone Pony the pyro singed the sleeve of the club manager. Some people fail to comprehend the meaning of 'no'. Those clubs turned their contracts over after The Station fire to prove the "no pyro" clause in the contract and that the band's manager disregarded it.
 

backslashbaby

~~~~*~~~~
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
12,635
Reaction score
1,603
Location
NC
So, so horrible :( That kind of loss of life is mind-numbing.

Our worst non-terrorist mass murder in the US was a nightclub fire, set intentionally :( The crowds and space and darkness make them dangerous even if all of the rules are followed, imho.

The parts about looking the other way and cutting corners always piss me off to no end wherever cases like this one happen, though. That reminds me of factory fires, too. When profit (regular or via bribes) is the reason, that is almost more disgusting than the purposeful murders, imho :(