For someone looking for a good time, it is the ultimate nightmare “” burning to death in an overcrowded nightclub. Well into summer season, the San Diego Fire Department (SDFD) has launched a campaign to crack down on nightclub owners who violate safety regulations with hopes to reduce the injuries and fatalities resulting from confined spaces packed considerably over capacity.
The campaign is sparked by an increase in overcrowding citations in San Diego and recent disasters involving panicked crowds. According to SDFD, safety violations in nightclubs are already up 60 percent from 2004-2005, creating a major cause for concern. The horrendous consequences of overcrowding were recently made clear in riot situations in Rhode Island and Chicago clubs.
While SDFD checks all nightclubs annually, the inspections are normally done during the daytime and not during the peak weekend night hours. To combat the obvious discrepancies that arise from such an approach, night detail enforcement recently received extra training to visit nightclubs during their hours of business. Part of the training involved a video of the 2003 Rhode Island “Station” nightclub fire, which led to 100 deaths and many more injuries. The 10-minute-long realtime video was shot by a patron of the club and shows in eerie, gruesome detail people trapped and crushed in a burning building that did not provide adequate escape routes.
“People are trampled trying to get out of this place!” says a panicked man in the video, before a background of screaming, bloodied patrons. The consequence of ignoring the event came forth last year, when a Chicago nightclub bouncer sprayed Mace into the crowd and incited a riot that left 21 people dead in the melee. Afterward, one of the exits was found locked.
Such oversights are precisely what the SDFD aims to combat. Depending on the severity of a violation, inspectors can close a club and send the case to the city attorney on the first occasion “” a situation two San Diego nightclubs are already dealing with. In less critical situations, inspectors will return to ensure that the problem has been corrected.
“You find that someone is not doing their job right and trying to get more business in there, and that is the problem,” said Deputy Fire Marshall Garrett A. Pryor, who is heading up the campaign. Pryor added that approximately 90 percent of nightclubs have some sort of violation, ranging from a loose cord to a missing exit sign, but some put their patrons in far greater danger.
The training sessions emphasized participation of both inspectors and nightclub owners in order to show the dangers of overcrowding and to facilitate cooperation between the people involved. As Pryor and some nightclub owners noted, packing people to capacity is not always better for business, as waitresses often cannot get to the customers. Furthermore, if a club must be emptied when a violation is found, customers with large tabs usually do not stay, leaving the nightclub with numerous unpaid checks.
While the names of accused nightclubs remain confidential, Pryor said that the issue is one that is commonplace not only in downtown San Diego but also in Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, East County and North County “” however, the Gaslamp Quarter tends to be inspected more than other areas. All areas are under watch, especially with the approaching festivities and the normal summer busy season.
Nevertheless, Pryor remains confident. “I’d like to think that a low percentage of nightclubs have serious violations because of our aggressive visits,” he said. It is hoped that nightclub owners will heed the warnings and make their establishments safe and secure for everyone.
For more information on the nightclub situation, visit www.sandiego.gov/fireandems, or contact the San Diego Fire and Rescue at (619) 533-4300.