Fireworks and nightclub fires

At least 59 people were killed in the North Macedonia nightclub fire which appears to have been set off by fireworks. As I reveal in my recent book A History of Fireworks (Reaktion Books), accidents of this kind have become disturbingly familiar.

The North Macedonia fire happened on 16 March in Kocani, 60 miles from the capital Skopje, where about 500 people were attending a concert by DNK, one of the country's most popular bands. The blaze seems to have been started by sparks from flares hitting the ceiling which was made of inflammable material. 

There were reports that the venue was not licensed, and survivors spoke of there being only one exit, and of those trying to escape being trampled in the crush. Only one member of the band survived, and police detained 15 people.

In 2003, 100 people were killed at a club in West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA as they watched the rock band Great White, who had just incorporated pyrotechnics into their act. Sparks set fire to inflammable foam lining the ceiling, walls and even an exit door. One band member was killed. 

The following year, nearly 200 people died in an eerily similar fire at a nightclub in Buenos Aires. Among those gaoled were members of the rock band who had been performing. Then in 2009, 156 people perished at the Lame Horse club at Perm in Russia. The building had no fire exits.

But the worst disaster came at the Kiss club in Santa Maria, Brazil in 2013 (pictured). Again, the band set off a flare which ignited soundproofing foam on the ceiling, filling the place with toxic fumes. Police said the club had no working fire extinguishers and exits were poorly signposted. The death toll was 242.

 

Brazil night club fire - 16 charged

Sixteen people will face criminal charges in connection with January’s fire at the Kiss night club in Brazil – one of the deadliest night club blazes in history in which more than 240 people were killed and 600 injured.

Police said the fire started when the singer in a band held a firework close to the ceiling, and insulating foam caught fire, spreading poisonous fumes through the club in the southern town of Santa Maria.

A fire extinguisher failed to work, and investigators said there was only one exit, a situation described as a "grotesque safety failure".   Escape routes and lighting were found to be inadequate, and the club was also said to have been overcrowded.

The singer, the band's producer, the club's owners, and fire officials will be charged with negligent homicide. (See also my blog of Jan 28.)

* Another intriguing story in the Londonist’s ‘forgotten disasters’ series – the Fatal Vespers.  Or see my book – London’s Disasters: from Boudicca to the Banking Crisis P113.   http://londonist.com/2013/02/londons-forgotten-disasters-the-fatal-vespers.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+londonist%2FsBMe+(Londonist)

Night club fires

Brazil has declared three days of national mourning for the 231 people who died in a fire at the Kiss night club in the southern city of Santa Maria.    It is said to have started when a member of the band playing there lit a flare on stage.  One band member was killed.

Most of the victims are believed to have perished from inhaling toxic smoke from foam insulation on the ceiling.  There are claims that people could not escape because there was only one emergency exit, and that at first security guards stopped them leaving before they had paid their bills.

According to reports, the club’s fire safety certificate expired last year.   Fireworks or flares were involved in other major night club fires in the United States in 2003, Argentina in 2004, and Thailand and Russia both in 2009.

Probably the deadliest night club fire of all time happened at the Cocoanut Grove in Boston during World War Two, when 492 people died.   It was believed to have been started when a junior member of staff lit a match to try to find a light bulb he had dropped on the floor.  For more details see A Disastrous History of the World.