Any venue or building rated for say, to pick a random number, more than 20 people can get randomly inspected by a fire safety inspector.
And I want fire safety inspectors to be feared as much as Judge fucking Dredd. So when they turn up announced, the building management shits a mega-block in fear when they realise that skimping on installing a proper security setup and resorting to chaining/locking fire escapes has just cost them personally a month in jail with a criminal record, issued on the spot!
There’s simply no valid excuses for being this reckless with safety.
In the US, fire marshals have a lot of authority. Like if you have a a fire exit blocked, even by something that can easily be moved, they can shut down the whole place right then and there. Or if there’s insufficient fire control systems, or a venue is over capacity.
But also, a lot of them are happy to take bribes to look the other way on what is, most of the time, small stuff like that.
I lived in Rhode Island when The Station fire happened, and I was working in a restaurant.
I guess one upside is that the fire Marshalls actually took their jobs seriously and the business owners actually listened to them. My boss had to get rid of a conveyor from the basement to the “back” exit, install new fire suppression systems, a larger hood over the grill, a new hood over the stove, and removed a pile of storage from in front of a door that I didn’t even know was there…it was the fire exit from the kitchen where I was working.
A few years later when I was looking for an apartment in RI, I noticed how many had retrofitted sprinkler systems that definitely went in after the station.
Yes, as a result of a surprise fire inspection, not after dozens of people are dead.
You’re god damn right!
Any venue or building rated for say, to pick a random number, more than 20 people can get randomly inspected by a fire safety inspector.
And I want fire safety inspectors to be feared as much as Judge fucking Dredd. So when they turn up announced, the building management shits a mega-block in fear when they realise that skimping on installing a proper security setup and resorting to chaining/locking fire escapes has just cost them personally a month in jail with a criminal record, issued on the spot!
There’s simply no valid excuses for being this reckless with safety.
In the US, fire marshals have a lot of authority. Like if you have a a fire exit blocked, even by something that can easily be moved, they can shut down the whole place right then and there. Or if there’s insufficient fire control systems, or a venue is over capacity.
But also, a lot of them are happy to take bribes to look the other way on what is, most of the time, small stuff like that.
I lived in Rhode Island when The Station fire happened, and I was working in a restaurant.
I guess one upside is that the fire Marshalls actually took their jobs seriously and the business owners actually listened to them. My boss had to get rid of a conveyor from the basement to the “back” exit, install new fire suppression systems, a larger hood over the grill, a new hood over the stove, and removed a pile of storage from in front of a door that I didn’t even know was there…it was the fire exit from the kitchen where I was working.
A few years later when I was looking for an apartment in RI, I noticed how many had retrofitted sprinkler systems that definitely went in after the station.
Of course, memories are short.