# Fire in South America



## cda (Jan 27, 2013)

245 die in panicky stampede in Brazil club fire 01/27/2013 9:17 AM

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A blaze raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, setting off a stampede that killed at least 245 people attending a university party, police and firefighters said. It appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.

Witnesses said that a flare or firework lit by band members may have started the fire.

Police Maj. Cleberson Braida told local news media that the 245 bodies were brought for identification to a gymnasium in the city of Santa Maria, at the southern tip of Brazil near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay

Television images showed smoke pouring out of the Kiss nightclub as shirtless, young male partygoers joined firefighters in wielding axes and sledgehammers, pounding at windows and walls to break through to those trapped inside. Teenagers sprinted from the scene desperately trying to find help — others carried injured and burned friends away in their arms.

"There was so much smoke and fire, it was complete panic and it took a long time for people to get out, there were so many dead," survivor Luana Santos Silva told the Globo TV network.

Silva added that firefighters and ambulances responded quickly after the fire broke out, but that it spread too fast inside the packed club for them to help.

Michele Pereira, another survivor, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage and that the fire broke out after band members lit flares.

"The band that was onstage began to use flares and, suddenly, they stopped the show and pointed them upward. At that point the ceiling caught fire. It was really weak but in a matter of seconds it spread," Pereira said.

Civil Police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha earlier that the total number of victims is still unclear and there may be hundreds injured. Officials earlier said 180 were killed.

Rodrigo Moura, identified by the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria as a security guard at the club, said it was at its maximum capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000, and partygoers were pushing and shoving to escape.

Ezekiel Corte Real, 23, was quoted by the paper as saying that he helped people to escape. "I just got out because I'm very strong," he said.

The fire led President Dilma Roussef to cancel a series of meetings she had scheduled at a summit of Latin American and European leaders in Chile's capital of Santiago, and was headed to Santa Maria, according to the Brazilian foreign ministry.

"It is a tragedy for all of us. I am not going to continue in the meeting (in Chile) for very clear reasons," she said.

"Sad Sunday", tweeted Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. He said all possible action was being taken and that he would be in the city later in the day.

Santa Maria is a major university city with a population of around a quarter of a million.

A welding accident reportedly set off a Dec. 25, 2000, fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309.

At least 194 people died at an overcrowded working-class nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2004. Seven members the band were sentenced to prison for setting off the blaze.

A blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, broke out on Dec. 5, 2009, when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152

A nightclub fire in the U.S. state of Rhode Island in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling.


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## ICE (Jan 27, 2013)

Too many places are built to burn.

While still in high school I was laborer rebuilding a hotel.  There was a night club which had a south China sea ambiance.  We used paint rollers and carpet glue to cover everything with burlap and thatch.  Nets and an outrigger canoe hung from the ceiling.


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## sdpaddler50 (Jan 27, 2013)

Fire in South America

Police: Brazil nightclub fire kills at least 232 - World News

Death toll = 245, one exit, 900 people in the club, foam on the walls, fireworks, probably no sprinkler system. I am sure we will get more details over the next few days.


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## TheCommish (Jan 27, 2013)

so it happens again

"Most of the dead apparently suffocated, according to Dr. Paulo Afonso Beltrame, a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Santa Maria who raced the city's Caridade Hospital to help victims.

He said survivors, police and firefighters told him a flare set off by a band member set the ceiling's soundproofing ablaze. "Large amounts of toxic smoke quickly filled the room and I would say that at least 90 percent of the victims died of asphyxiation," Beltrame told The Associated Press by telephone."

232 die in smoke, stampede in Brazil club fire - Yahoo! News

Please think of this any time you are challange on the then need for codes and code enforement


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## fatboy (Jan 27, 2013)

I always think about these horrific incidents......life safety is first and foremost, and I don't waffle on that. Fortunately, I have upper management that supports me.


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## RJJ (Jan 27, 2013)

When will They learn?


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## cda (Jan 27, 2013)

Looked like on one report doors swung in and not out


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## fireguy (Jan 27, 2013)

Station Fire again.  Remind me again how those dammed building officials just do not understand there will never be a fire in my bar/resturant/furniture store/church/school/house.


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## Codegeek (Jan 28, 2013)

Unfortunately, until the politicians who write the legislation to adopt codes to be enforced and allow for the codes to be enforced understand the real effects of not having codes, tragedies like this will continue to happen.

Those of us who work in fire prevention/code enforcement can continue to educate as many people as we can about the effects of the lack of code enforcement in hopes of trying to impact and educate the politicians.


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## conarb (Jan 28, 2013)

All of these rock band club fires have three things in common, lower class young people listening to rock music, pyrotechnics, and styrofoam.  Codes can't prevent idiots from lighting fires in buildings, but they can ban the installation of foams.  In pursuit of this insane obsessive compulsive energy conservation the codes are allowing foams in building construction.



			
				Huffington Post said:
			
		

> SANTA MARIA, Brazil — A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded, windowless nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, filling the air in seconds with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers, many of whom were caught in a stampede to escape.Inspectors believe the blaze began when a band's small pyrotechnics show ignited foam sound insulating material on the ceiling, releasing a putrid haze that caused scores of university students to choke to death. Most victims died from smoke inhalation rather than burns in what appeared to be the world's deadliest nightclub fire in more than a decade.¹


Remember that two story modular home fire that went wild in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago?  They glued the sheetrock on the ceilings of the first floor with foam, when the fire breached the sheetrock it went wild with toxic smoke, we are allowing foams to be used today with nothing more than a ½" covering of sheetrock or an intumescent coating, I believe all the intumescent coatings have been challenged (if not outlawed) for their toxic off-gassing.  All foams need to be specifically outlawed by the codes, otherwise codes are useless.  Remember the Las Vegas hotel fire where the foam caught fire on the exterior of the building?

What gets me is we have all kinds of environmental wackos storming city council meetings seeking and getting bans on foam cups and plates because they are destroying the oceans and they don't even know that we are allowing it in buildings that are going to end up in the oceans in 30 years, the projected service life of today's "affordable" disposable housing.

¹ Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills At Least 233 People (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)


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## mark handler (Jan 28, 2013)

Security guards blocked the exits to force the patrons to pay their bar tabs


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## Frank (Jan 28, 2013)

conarb said:
			
		

> All of these rock band club fires have three things in common, lower class young people listening to rock music, pyrotechnics, and styrofoam.  Codes can't prevent idiots from lighting fires in buildings, but they can ban the installation of foams.  In pursuit of this insane obsessive compulsive energy conservation the codes are allowing foams in building construction.


THe station crowd was mostly in their 30s and 40s middle class-- "The Station" Fire Victim List  Great White is an 80's music band.


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## Frank (Jan 28, 2013)

mark handler said:
			
		

> Security guards blocked the exits to force the patrons to pay their bar tabs


How very common as well in many incidnets--dont want people to leve without paying for the stuff as the place burns.


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## cda (Jan 28, 2013)

at least they arrest people down there:::::::::::

(CNN) -- Police arrested three people and were searching Monday for a fourth in connection with the nightclub fire that killed 231 people in southern Brazil, state media reported.

The detainees will be held initially for five days while authorities investigate Sunday's blaze in the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Marcos Viana, a police official told state-run Agencia Brasil. The five-day period can be extended for five more days, the news agency said.

Brazil nightclub fire: 'Like a war zone' with bodies piled

"We concluded that it was necessary to hold them prisoner temporarily, because we need their statements to help us clarify the incident," Viana said, according to Agencia Brasil

Brazil club fire echoes 2003 R.I. fire

What caused the Brazil club fire?

Brazilian reporter: People were running

Police did not identify those arrested.

"We have much work ahead to clarify what happened and identify those responsible," Viana said, according to the news agency.

Civil police in Santa Maria have questioned 20 other people, it said.

Photos: Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire

More than 100 clubgoers were injured in the fire, which authorities say began about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a band's pyrotechnic show ignited insulation material.

Many apparently died from smoke inhalation; others were trampled in the rush for the exits.

The nightclub owners have pledged to cooperate with the investigation, according to a statement released by the law firm of Kummel & Kummel.

"We are open to all authorities and inspections," said the statement, obtained by Globo TV.

Read more: How to protect yourself in a crowd

The club's license had expired in August and had not been renewed, a local fire official told Globo TV.

The owners, however, said the nightclub was properly permitted and had been inspected by the fire marshal.

The city's mayor, Cezar Schirmer, said the fire department "has always done a very strict surveillance on the homes of shows and dealt with all other issues that relate to security of these places."

Opinion: We haven't learned from past mistakes

On Monday, the first of Brazil's three days of mourning, flowers were left outside the club in tribute to the victims, and a flag outside the country's presidential palace flew at half-staff.

In Santa Maria, mourners lined up in a series of funeral processions and coffins were lined up in a gymnasium that authorities had turned into a morgue.

Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history

By noon, 40 of 110 funerals planned for the day had already been held at the city's municipal cemetery, its chief of staff told CNN affiliate Band News.

At one funeral, air force troops fired rifles in tribute to a comrade who died in Sunday's fire.

At another, two teenage brothers, the only children in one family, were buried side by side.

Of the people who were hurt, 82 were still in area hospitals; 40 were taken four hours east to the city Porto Alegre, BandNews TV reported.

The governor of Rio de Janeiro

Three arrested in connection with deadly Brazil nightclub fire - CNN.com


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## mark handler (Jan 28, 2013)

cda said:
			
		

> at least they arrest people down there:::::::::::


Arresting people is one thing, conviction is something else


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## Frank (Jan 28, 2013)

Band Manager for Great White was convicted and served time--

Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan sentenced Biechele to 15 years in prison, with four to serve and 11 years suspended, plus three years probation, for his role in the fire.[14] Darigan remarked, "The greatest sentence that can be imposed on you has been imposed on you by yourself." Under this sentence, with good behavior, Biechele would be eligible for parole in September 2007. Judge Darigan deemed Biechele highly unlikely to re-offend, which was among the mitigating factors that led to his decision to impose this sentence.


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## conarb (Jan 28, 2013)

CDA said:
			
		

> More than 100 clubgoers were injured in the fire, which authorities say  began about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a band's pyrotechnic show ignited  insulation material.The owners, however, said the nightclub was properly permitted and had been inspected by the fire marshal.


If the fire marshal did allow flammable insulation material he should be prosecuted; however, if their code allowed it should he still be prosecuted?


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## Mac (Jan 28, 2013)

Those lower class Saxons again. Why don't they just go back...

There are non-flammable foams & sound panels available, that could have been used.


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## FM William Burns (Jan 28, 2013)

> There are non-flammable foams & sound panels available, that could have been used.


Just approved some Class A's today! Ironic that they are for a club too...I asked if they saw the news last night!

Another avoidable tragedy :banghd


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## Oldfieldguy (Jan 29, 2013)

It's Brazil. This type of life loss is expected and anticipated.

ENGINEERING.com | File Downloads

Look at Table 1. The nightclub incident is business as usual. And in four years, they will host the Olympics. Its quite possible fire safety will take a more prominent in role. In the China Olympics they were more worried about who would be eating stir-fried yack nuts.


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## beach (Jan 30, 2013)

FM Burns, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your signature quote when I sent this out the other day.....

In light of the recent nightclub fire in Brazil where over 230 people were killed, we are reminded of another tragic fire closer to home. The Station nightclub fire on Feb. 20, 2003 was very similar to the fire in Brazil. Tragedies such as the Brazil and Rhode Island nightclub fires do not occur because of one thing going wrong, they are typically a result of a combination of mistakes, creating a recipe for disaster.

In both instances, the nightclubs were overcrowded; required exits were locked, and unpermitted indoor pyrotechnics combined with highly flammable interior finishes were used. How does this happen when fire and building codes clearly regulate these life safety items? 

It’s been said that fire suppression is a failure in prevention. If we are to learn anything from these tragedies; it’s not enough to enact codes, they must also be enforced. If just one ingredient of this recipe for disaster had been omitted, the death toll could have been drastically reduced, possibility to none.

Prevention is everyone’s responsibility and what we do collectively as a department to understand and enforce our fire and life safety codes has a meaningful and profound impact on our community and its quality of life. Our challenge is understating that we can’t prove what doesn’t happen because of our fire prevention activities. What we can do is to learn from other’s tragedies, and be educators to our public about risk reduction, and the consequence of the failure to do so.


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## FM William Burns (Jan 30, 2013)

> FM Burns, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your signature quote when I sent this out the other day.....


Beach,

Never and exceptional piece you put out!  Besides, I got it from some old wise FM named Dove I recall 

Be safe out there and I see my next 101 TC meeting is out in San Diego in May.......don't know how close it is but would love meeting you over a couple beverages!


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## LGreene (Jan 30, 2013)

The news reports are stating that the single exit was code-compliant.  Very scary.  I added a couple of articles (the purple ones) about the code perspective on my blog post:  I Dig Hardware / I Hate Hardware » Kiss Nightclub – Santa Maria, Brazil


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## Oldfieldguy (Jan 31, 2013)

FM William Burns said:
			
		

> Beach,Never and exceptional piece you put out!  Besides, I got it from some old wise FM named Dove I recall
> 
> Be safe out there and I see my next 101 TC meeting is out in San Diego in May.......don't know how close it is but would love meeting you over a couple beverages!


While in San Diego I recommend having one meal at C Level lounge. It is darn near across the street from the Airport. It's on the same road as the Sheraton across from the airport. OFG eats at that place during every trip to San Diego. Its worth the price of the meal for the food and view. If you mention my name they will want you to pay my bar tab.


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## beach (Feb 4, 2013)

FM William Burns said:
			
		

> Beach,Never and exceptional piece you put out! Besides, I got it from some old wise FM named Dove I recall
> 
> Be safe out there and I see my next 101 TC meeting is out in San Diego in May.......don't know how close it is but would love meeting you over a couple beverages!


I'm about an hour up the beach, I have friends that live in Coronado... give me a shout when it gets close and I may make a trip down there for a beverage or two!

(New Chief and Assistant Chief here.... keeping me very busy. I haven't had a lot of time to visit this site much....)


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## cda (Feb 4, 2013)

it has to be safe::::

Coronado Restaurant with a Firehouse theme – great food and fun


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