They say that lightning never strikes in the same place twice. Having sat in an observation tower in Yosemite National Park and watching multiple lightning bolts crash to the ground during a fierce thunder storm, I would be hard-pressed to disagree with that notion. However, no matter where lightning strikes, the point of contact is going to suffer some damage.
Where is lightning likely to strike in your community next time? I am not referring to real lightning; I am using that phenomenon as a metaphor for the onset of a tragic event that nobody expects to happen. What I am talking about are those types of catastrophic events that do seem to be like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere. No one predicts them and no one is ready for them.
The thought for this column came to me while I was reading about an incident in a Russian nightclub in which more than 100 people died as a result of a fire. Not unlike that proverbial lightning bolt, I doubt anybody would have predicted that event occurring until after it already had transpired.
In this particular case, the fire official has been placed on indefinite leave. Notwithstanding the fact that Russia's form of government is very different from America's, the reality is that a fire chief — regardless of whether he knows about a problem — ultimately is going to be the target of the public's wrath in the aftermath of certain tragedies. When these events occur, survivors and relatives of the victims alike look for a scapegoat, and one of the first places they search is at the top of the pyramid in a fire department.
Fortunately, for most of us, lightning doesn't strike in our communities all that often. However, this catastrophic event that destroyed the Russian nightclub is not much different than The Station nightclub fire that occurred in West Warwick, R.I., on Feb. 20, 2003, and which claimed 100 lives and injured nearly 200 others.
Do we have our lightning rods out for these kinds of problems? What are the indications that lightning could strike, resulting in an embarrassing scenario for the department and career-ending event for the chief fire officer.
First and foremost is the danger of a heavily crowded event. These scenarios often occur in entertainment venues in which there is very little oversight during the hours of operation. Do you have any facilities in your community that meet that description? If you do, then perhaps you need to attach the proverbial lightning rod to that occupancy.
The lightning rod to which I am referring concerns frequent inspections that are focused on such an occurrence. You should be paying very close attention to the conditions of your public-assembly occupancies, especially after hours and during periods of their most intense use. Granted, it takes a little bit more time and effort to go out and inspect these kinds of buildings late at night rather than walking through them during broad daylight. That is the very thing that needs to be considered. These types of occupancies might pass inspection during the daytime but be a potential threat at night.
Generally speaking, overcrowding does not occur by accident. It is linked in many cases to the popularity of a particular group, the conducting of a special event, or a function related to other cultural aspects of the community. You cannot afford to have facility in your city that exceeds its occupancy load on a regular basis without anticipating that a lightning strike might occur.
When your department conducts inspections in these types of occupancies, the policy should be zero tolerance for two factors. The first of these is overcrowding. The second of these is the use of any flammable interior finish and/or open flame that can compromise the interior. Those two factors, followed by inappropriate acts and omissions can be found over and over again in these types of scenarios. While these conditions might be found in other occupancy types, they are the critical factors that turn a public assembly into a tragedy in a very short period of time.
An extra precaution you may wish to take in these occupancies is to have a briefing with the local law-enforcement agency and advise them of what conditions for which you have zero tolerance. For example, law-enforcement agencies often will be brought to the scene of unruly crowds, which can result in them identifying dangerous conditions even if the fire department is not regularly in the occupancy. As it is with all occupancies, periodic checking of the manner in which they are doing business is a constant reminder of what is required for code compliance.
These occupancies are different than the vast majority. The reason is that thousands of individuals are invited into these types of occupancies on a random basis. They seldom know the way out of a building; moreover, they are unfamiliar with the conditions that arise in even a slight panic in a crowded room. In order to prevent lightning from striking, the fire department should place an appropriate amount of emphasis on these occupancies and adequately equip the fire-suppression division to inform every new generation of young citizens about the dangers of overcrowded public assemblies.
In the final analysis, a lightning rod causes electricity to go to ground without creating harm. A strong inspection program can do the same for public-assembly events.
Ronny J. Coleman has served as fire chief in Fullerton and San Clemente, Calif., and was the fire marshal of the state of California from 1992 to 1999. He is a certified fire chief and a master instructor in the California Fire Service Training and Education System.
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