Regulations

A study of fire protection systems at The Station Nightclub fire was done and included a report filed by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) . It was known that The Station did not have a sprinkler system. According to the 2003 edition of model codes, sprinklers would have been required if the structure had been constructed recently. Sprinklers were not required for an existing structure like The Station.

Extinguishers were located in the structure; however, they were not located close to where the fire started. There is doubt that extinguishers would have made a significant difference in this case.

NFPA is the Life Safety Code, providing strategies to keep people safe based on building construction and occupancy features that minimize the effects of fire and related hazards.

There are several different types of occupancies including fire protection, sprinkler systems, alarms, emergency lighting, smoke barriers and special hazard protection.

Since the fire, there have been meetings with Station survivors, families of the Victims, and members of the fire safety community to discuss the fire with the intent to prevent future incidents.

On July 2003, the Standard Council reviewed and issued the technical committee’s recommended Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs) for NFPA 101 Life Safety Code. The TIAs made some changes to the Safety Code required of all buildings.  Now they must have the following:

 

• Fire sprinklers in new nightclubs

• Building owners must now inspect exits to make sure they are free of obstructions and they must maintain records of each inspection
 
• For larger gatherings, additional crowd managers are required at a ratio of 3:250
 
• No festival seating for crowds of more than 250 unless a life safety evaluation has been approved by the authorities.