Wungwang and Cocoanut Grove Fires - Case Study Example

Wuwang club fire Just before the September 21 midnight in 2008, the fire broke out at a packed Chinese club known as king of dancers. The Wuwang fire claimed 43 lives and left about 88 people injured in china’s south city Shenzhen (International Herald Tribute 2008). It was recognized that the club’s operations were illegal such that it did not have s building license and also the construction of the building was not according to the codes employed in buildings. This was so much attributed to the issue of corruption in the government. During the incident there were 308 people who were enjoying the performances in the club before the tragedy began. The source of the fire was a performance that involved use of fireworks which led to ceiling ignition causing blackout in the entire club. This caused panic to those attending the performances which led to stampede towards the narrow exit. It was reported that most of the deaths occurred due to the crush during the stampede (Loft 2009). Investigation From the investigations, it was found out that a firework that was set by one of the performers was the case of the fire as it ignited the ceiling which contained a flammable material. This nightclub was run in a hall with ten chambers which amounted to a capacity of 380 people. The hall whose location is the third floor in a market place could be accessed using a staircase by only a passage way that was too narrow and whose length was around ten meters. Various windows within the club hall were sealed. After the incident, a video footage which was aired by one of the television showed that the night club was filled with smoke after the fire. The conditions in the hall included presence of broken glasses, overturned tables and littering of shoes on the floor. The provincial governor in Guangdong attributed the deaths to the poor ventilation within the hall which was a problem that was supposed to be addressed during the architectural design of the building. From the local report, it was reported that the night club was not licensed and the management proceeded to put it up by ignoring the laws of the local authorities. After the start of the fire from a misfired fireworks gun, the entire crowd stampeded into the only exit that was badly lit. This led to death of 43 people which included five people from Hong Kong the neighbouring country and four boys who had come to celebrate their colleague’s eighteenth birthday (Fox news 2008). The authorities in Shenzhen informed the media that the king of dancers club had been operating illegally without the required licenses. This led to detaining of the club management which included the general manager, his assistant, officer in charge of safety, performers and technicians. After the club inspection, the governor in the province of Guangdong reported that the architectural design of this nightclub was wrong. More emphasis was put on the ventilation system which according to many, led to the deaths. The capacity of this club was 380 but those who witnessed the fire say that the capacity of the club-goers at the time of the accident was three times the maximum capacity. It was also reported that the exits were blocked while the windows were boarded while one exit route that was adequate did not have a posted sign. Witnesses and those who survived the tragedy said that if there was a better route for escape, then many of those whose lives was claimed by the fire could have survived. It was also reported that the popularity of the club was attributed to provision of cheap drinks and in addition, while in this nightclub, everyone was free to do anything. This led to attraction of a lot of young people who ended up in doing drugs inside this club which could make them even unable to stand up or make decision for escape in case of such an emergency. Thus it was discovered that a lot of people from attend nightclubs by crossing the border to Guangzhou or Shenzhen due to cheap commodities and negligence in the enforcement of the law. From the witnesses, the floorshow attracted many people’s attention which involved a man dressed as a policeman who was firing a fireworks gun but this turned out to be a panic as the gun ignited the ceiling that were flammable. From this point everyone in the night club was crowded towards one exit only, which led to clambering over other bodies in order to get out of the club. This was made more difficult as the night club was filled with smoke in addition to broken furniture and glass, and a lot of shoes scattered on the entire floor (BBC News 2008). Such incidents of fires in china has been common which have been attributed to local corruption where there lacks no one to enforce the rules on safety. From this incident, thirteen people were detained and charged violation and negligence of rules on safety. Others have been found guilty of harbouring criminals in the nightclub. In addition, five officials including the district fire staff and police in Shenzhen and near Guangzhou were also punished (Chinadaily 2008). Cocoanut Grove fire Cocoanut Grove was one of the premier nightclub in Boston between 1930s and 40s. On 28th November 1942, the club experienced the deadliest fire in the nightclub in the history of the united states which claimed 492 lives a number which is more than the design capacity of the night club by 32 people. The club fire also led to injuries to hundreds of lives. The club fire was the United States second worst fire after the Chicago’s Iroquois theatre fire which claimed 602 lives. From the two cases it was observed that if there was enforcement of the existing safety codes, then most of the lives that were lost would have survived. The club was located in the neighbourhood of current Bay Village in Boston. The building was converted from a former warehouse complex and garage to a meandering complex of one and half storey of bars, dining rooms, and lounges which offered dancing and dining to its patrons in South Seas like the tropical paradise which was created by artificial bamboo and rattan, palm trees, canopies of swanky satin and heavy draperies that were suspended from the ceilings, and it also consisted of a which could be adjusted according to the season where it was rolled back during summers to enjoy dancing while watching stars. This building has some reputation related to criminal hangout which was fostred more by the killing of the club’s former owner who was gunned down in Cotton Club’s men rooms (Thomas, J. 1992). Investigation Reports show the fire began at around 10:15 pm in a dark melody lounge under the atmospheres of intimacy. Goody, a young pianist cum singer was performing in a stage that was revolving and it was also surrounded by palm trees which were artificial. Within the club, a young man removed a light bulb in order to acquire privacy as he was kissing his date. A 16 year old busboy put back the light under instructions through retightening of the removed bulb. On his attempt to retighten, the bulb in the socket, the bulb slipped from his hand thus, continuing with the dimly lit condition of the lounge. With this condition the boy was not able to see the bulb socket properly which made him to light a match to have a view of the socket. Immediately after the lighting of the match, the patrons identified some ignition in above the table from the fronds of the canopy of artificial palm (Reilly 1943). Despite the efforts by the waiters to stop the fire, it spread more rapidly along the artificial palm tree to a point of igniting every decoration on the ceilings and on the walls. The fire flames also raced up the stairs reaching the main level. This led to severe burning of the patron’s hair as they stumbled up the stairs. Later there was a burst of a fire ball right at the centre of the dancing floor. With the little time possible, the flames had raced through to the adjacent bar. It then raced down through the corridor to a Broadway lounge. Within a period of five minutes, the flames were all over the clubroom which made the entire club to be at blaze. Due to panic situations at a condition like this, most patrons struggled to leave through the main entrance which was the same place that they got in. To make things even more difficult, the main door consisted of a revolving mechanism which made the panicked patron’s efforts useless as everyone was scrambling for safety. As a result of this scramble at the revolving door, bodies had piled on both sides of the revolving door leading to its complete jamming which made the fire fighters to dismantle it first in order to gain access to the club (CelebrateBoston.com 2012). As the night continued, the temperatures continued to drop and the water began to freeze at the cobblestones. This also led to freezing of the hoses. Most of the victims had inhaled a lot of fumes to a condition that when they inhaled cold air, they dropped down like stones. Other routes that were meant for escape became useless as all the side doors were bolted to avoid the incidences of people leaving without paying for their services. A plated glass window which was supposed to be smashed in case of an emergency for escape could not be used as an emergency exit as it was boarded. Other doors that were unlocked such as the Broadway lounge ones also became useless from people who were trying to escape as they opened inwards. Had the doors been swinging outwards, the officials in fire fighting testified that more than 300 lives could have been saved. During the cleanup process in the building, several bodies were found sitting in their seats with others still holding their drinks. This showed that these people were overcome by the rapid toxic fumes and fire to a point that there was no time to make any movement. From research in 90s, Charles Kenney made and discovery and also concluded that presence of methyl chloride which is a highly flammable gas in the systems of refrigeration significantly contributed to rapid speed of fire. After the tightening of the laws, it became illegal to install a single revolving door to be used as the main entrance without flanking with doors that opens outwards with attachments of panic bars (Kenney 1999). Similarities and differences Loss of life in the two incidences can be attributed to various legislations that govern the design and construction of buildings. In Wuwang club fire, the management completely ignored the building code and also operated the club without a license. This led to construction of a nightclub without observing the required safety rules. This is evidenced as club goers die as they scramble to come out of narrow and unlit exit and lack of proper ventilation as the fumes fill the entire night club. On the other hand the deaths in the cocoanut grove may also be associated with the design of the building especially the main doors and exits. Presence of a revolving door led to piling of bodies as people struggled to escape to a point of dismantling the door to give way to fire officials. Also, the doors that were meant for escape had been fixed permanently on business gains which made the application of emergency exits useless. The Wuwang club fires claimed 43 lives while the cocoanut grove fire claimed 492 lives. From the two cases, it is evident that consideration of safety is an essential factor in design and construction of entertainment facilities. It is also important to note in the two cases that lack of sufficient emergency exits contributed a lot to the deaths in the two clubs. Also, the two cases were allowed people in their clubs beyond the authorised capacity such that the cocoanut grove was supposed to hold a maximum of 460 people while those who died in the club were 492 and also in the Wuwang night club, witnesses say that the club was thrice the authorised capacity. Human factors The human factors that led to large losses in Wuwan club fires include awareness, inadequate information, stigma and decisiveness. The management of the wuwang night club must have recognised the club as hazardous due to lack of proper ventilation and the ways of exits and lack of license and building codes. Although they properly recognised the place as hazardous, they failed to perceive the hazard. Thus, awareness led to large loss of life. The club goers did not understand that they were in a hazardous location. Lack of information about the risks associated with lack of ventilation and inadequate emergency exits led to large loss of life. Given that the management afforded to put up the night club without license and building code due to corruption in the government, this burred any of the personnel to raise any question regarding the safety of the club. This also led to large loss of human life. From the previous deadly fire that have claimed many lives, the management had a clear understanding about the threats associated with such buildings and the means of control but they continued under misperception that running the club they way they were doing was following a decision that was safe. Hence, decisiveness greatly contributed to large loss of human life. The human factors leading to large loss of life in cocoanut grove include inadequate information and decisiveness. The management of the cocoanut club decided that it was safe to provide emergency exits in order to prevent deaths in case of an accident. But although they knew it was safe to do so, they went on fixing the emergency exits permanently. With enough knowledge on importance of fire exits they continued with misperception that they were following the safe decision through by fixing the exit doors permanently. This contributed to large loss of human life. Cocoanut club did not know that the artificial decorations in the entire club can make the club such a hazardous location. As these artificial decorations led to rapid spreading of fire within the night club, this means that inadequate information led to significant loss of human life. The human factors similar to the two cases are inadequate information and decisiveness while those associated to Wuwang night club only include awareness and stigma (CPF 2007). Safety in the workplace is a big lesson learnt from the two cases. However, due to the issues such as corruption in the Wuwang night club and the urge to earn more profits without considering safety such as blocking the emergency exits as in cocoanut club, fires will always be a problem to handle with each case having a different source. Thus there is a need for very strict rules on licensing and compliance with the building codes where these rules must be independent to prevent interference of the interested parties such as the government. Given that previous incidents of fires main cause was failure to adhere to the appropriate rules on safety, these incidents could have been avoided or greatly reduced if they learned from previous fires. However, there is a likelihood of such incidences occurring again due to that fact that the club owners are more interested in making more money which will always lead to corruption and lack of adherence to proper rules on safety. References BBC News 2008, Arrests after Chinese club fire. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7628580.stm CelebrateBoston.com 2012, Cocoanut Grove Fire Cause. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.celebrateboston.com/disasters/cocoanut-grove-fire-cause.htm CPF 2007, Understanding Yourself -- Human Behavior Factors. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from http://www.cpf.org/go/cpf/health-and-safety/wildland-firefighter-safety/human-behavior-factors/ Chinadaily 2008, 13 arrested over fire in Shenzhen nightclub. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-09/27/content_7064310.htm Fox news 2008, 43 Dead, 88 Injured Following Chinese Nightclub Fire. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425764,00.html#ixzz1pKYxeune International Herald Tribute 2008, Blaze in Chinese dance club kills 44. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/21/asia/club.php Kenney, C. 1999, Did a "Mystery Gas" Fuel the Cocoanut Grove Fire?" Firehouse. Loft, K 2009, Nightclub fires. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.bahid.org/index/BAHIDNews-app/story.1032/title.nightclub-fires Reilly, W. 1943, Report concerning the Cocoanut Grove fire, November 28, 1942. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.archive.org/stream/reportconcerning00bost Thomas, J. 1992, The Cocoanut Grove Inferno. The Boston Globe. Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: http://www.boston.com/news/daily/21/archives_cocoanut_112292.htm Read More