The Station Nightclub Investigation - Essay Example

The Station Nightclub Investigation 8/13/2008 The overall condition of the nation’s buildings and infrastructure are of grave concern to its citizens. In many cases, disaster has struck in the form of a collapsed bridge or building, unexpected fire, or similar situation. Since people assume that the buildings that they visit, the roads that they drive on, and the bridges that they drive across are constructed safely, it is important that they actually are. One way that the nation is approaching this problem is by studying disasters in this area that have occurred and making recommendations to help keep disasters like them from occurring in the future (NIST, 2005). This paper covers The Station Nightclub fire, 9/11, and the Minneapolis bridge collapse. The recommendations presented in the final report of the disasters are then discussed, as well as how they relate to the overall point of the thesis. Then, two recommendations from the report are selected and related to the materials studied and learned in the course. Introduction Everyone desires for the country to be filled with safe buildings and a solid infrastructure. It is even natural for one to expect for a building to be safe to enter or for a bridge to be safe to cross. Most people do not even think twice about it when they are entering a structure or driving down the road—they just assume they are performing a safe activity and that the individuals responsible for constructing the structures they encounter have done their job in a safe and reliable manner. As one can tell from the following cases, however, this is not always a reality. As can be seen in the cases of The Station Nightclub, 9-11, and the Minneapolis bridge collapse—along with the recommendations from authorities following the disasters—the nation’s infrastructure is in bad need of repair. The Station Nightclub Fire According to a report by Grosshandler, Bryner, Madrzykowski, and Kuntz (2005, pg. 5): A fire occurred on the night of Feb. 20, 2003, in The Station nightclub at 211 Cowesett Avenue, West Warwick, Rhode Island. A band that was on the platform that night, during its performance, used pyrotechnics that ignited polyurethane foam insulation lining the walls and ceiling of the platform. The fire spread quickly along the walls and ceiling area over the dance floor. Smoke was visible in the exit doorways in a little more than one minute, and flames were observed breaking through a portion of the roof in less than five minutes. Egress from the nightclub, which was not equipped with sprinklers, was hampered by crowding at the main entrance to the building. One hundred people lost their lives in the fire. On Feb. 27, 2003, under the authority of the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) established a National Construction Safety Team to determine the likely technical cause or causes of the building failure that led to the high number of casualties in that fire. The codes that were already in place when the fire occurred would have likely been enough to prevent such a tragedy from occurring. However, the disaster sparked the development of recommendations and the strengthening of the existing codes. State and local agencies determined these measures would further enhance the safety of occupants. Enforcing the codes is also a vital part of the process (Grosshandler, Bryner, Madrzykowski, and Kuntz, 2005). After the disaster, ten recommendations were made with the goal of improving building safety and fire codes, as well as overall practices and standards. According to Grosshandler, Bryner, Madrzykowski, and Kuntz, 2005, pg. 6), the recommendations were to urge both local and state jurisdictions to do as follows: adopt and update building and fire codes covering nightclubs based on one of the model codes and enforce those codes aggressively strengthening the requirements for the installation of automatic fire sprinklers increasing the factor of safety on the time for occupants to egress tightening the restriction on the use of flexible polyurethane foam -- and other materials that ignite as easily and propagate flames as rapidly as non-fire retarded foam -- as an interior finish product further limiting the use of pyrotechnics conducting research in specific areas to underpin the recommended changes. Newman (2005) adds the remaining recommendations that were made following the incident. They are as follows: better understand human behavior in emergency situations and to predict the impact of building design on safe egress in emergencies better understand fire spread and suppression develop and refine computer models and computer-aided decision tools that communities can use to make cost-effective choices about code changes, fire safety technologies and emergency resource allocations. 9/11 NIST conducted an investigation following the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, much like they did in the nightclub fire described above. This investigation was conducted under the National Construction Safety Team Act. According to NIST (2005, pg. 1), their final report, “describes how the aircraft impacts and subsequent fires led to the collapse of the towers after terrorists flew jet fuel laden commercial airliners into the buildings; whether the fatalities were low or high, including an evaluation of the building evacuation and emergency response procedures; what procedures and practices were used in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the towers; and areas in current building and fire codes, standards, and practices that warrant revision.” The National Construction Safety Team, following the final report, issued requirements for NIST to do the following: Conduct, or enable or encourage the conducting of, appropriate research recommended by the Team Promote (consistent with existing procedures for the establishment of building standards, codes, and practices) the appropriate adoption by the Federal Government, and encourage the appropriate adoption by other agencies and organizations, of the recommendations of the Team with respect to— Technical aspects of evacuation and emergency response procedures Specific improvements to building standards, codes, and practices Other actions needed to help present future building failures. Further recommendations have been developed into a list of tasks that are to be carried out by the National Institute of Building Sciences. These include the following tasks: Develop a strategy for implementing relevant recommendations into model building codes. Develop awareness of activities of other groups already focusing on implementing the recommendations (e.g., NFPA, ICC, ASCE 7, ASTM, AISC, ACI, AIA, and BOMA). Develop initial proposals for change to the model codes. Shepherd proposed changes through the code-change processes. Identify additional steps to be taken with respect to relevant standards. Identify any needed training and educational tools. The Minneapolis Bridge Collapse In the summer of 2007, a bridge packed with cars in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring at least 60 more. Although the bridge was under repair at the time of the collapse, no structural work was being performed. The bridge was 40 years old and had passed structural inspection in the two years prior to the collapse (CNN, 2007). Although the investigation by NIST of the Minneapolis bridge collapse is still ongoing, several recommendations have emerged thus far. These include the development of technologies that will help professionals to spot infrastructure degradation before disaster occurs, reduce the reliance on visual-only inspections, revamp the condition ratings that are used by the National Bridge Inspection Standards, increase the number of trained inspectors, fund research into the development of tools and technology to assist in inspection procedures, and increase government support on the state and local levels (Harwood, 2008). Selection of Two Recommendations Two recommendations stood out, as they appeared to be relevant to all of the cases that were described above. First of all, funding needs to be raised so that proper research can be done into technologies that will help prevent disasters. This is relevant to the course in that it supports the importance of technology development on the future. Second, education and training are very important so that the inspectors and other parties responsible for the safety of citizens when it comes to buildings and bridges know what they are doing and are effective. Proper education and training naturally relates to the course because of its nature. Conclusion According to Harwood (2008, pg. 1), “The National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) has identified the nations crumbling infrastructure as a critical national need (CNN) and in response has announced it will fund research into new technologies to identify decaying roads, bridges, and water systems. Such a designation, says a recent NIST white paper, justifies "government attention because the magnitude of the problem is large and societal challenges that need to be overcome are not being sufficiently addressed.” The recommendations outlined above will help to prevent the disasters described from happening again in the future. References 7 dead as Mississippi River bridge falls amid rush hour in Minneapolis.” (2007). CNN. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/01/bridge.collapse/index.html Final reports of the federal building and fire investigation of the World Trade Center disaster.” (2005). NIST. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://wtc.nist.gov/reports_october05.htm Grosshandler, W.; N. Bryner; D. Madrzykowski; and K. Kuntz. (2005). NIST. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/Vol_I_NCSTAR2.pdf Harwood, M. “NIST calls for better technologies to spot infrastructure decay.” (2008). Security Management. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/nist-calls-better-technologies-spot-infrastructure-decay-004357 Newman, M. E. (2005) Final NIST Rhode Island nightclub fire report urges strict adherence to and strengthening of current model safety codes. (2005). NIST. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/RI_finalreport_june2905.htm NIST’s recommendations following the federal building and fire investigation of the World Trade Center disaster. (2005). NIST. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://wtc.nist.gov/recommendations/ Recommendations—NIST investigation of the Station Nightclub fire.” (2005). NIST. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/factsheet/RI_recomm_factsheet.htm Read More