The New York Times: The fire that killed at least 30 people in a warehouse-turned-performance space in Oakland, Calif., on Friday was one of the deadliest in the United States in many years, a tragedy that highlighted both the importance of fire safety codes and the vital role they have played in turning mass casualty blazes into rare events.
They have become infrequent thanks to safety measures that started to emerge at the turn of the 20th century, when fires at theaters and nightclubs not infrequently killed hundreds of people.
1 comment:
It’s always so tragic to hear of these kinds of stories – but it’s definitely something that needs to be publicized so that people know what caused it and to avoid it in the future. But as the article discusses, the same things often cause these kinds of fires in theatres and nightclub venues: flammable decorations, overcrowding, and inadequate exits. Even with these trends exploited and established, people just never think it could happen to them. This Oakland venue sounds particularly hazardous with the staircases being made out of palettes and there only being 2 exits for the entire building. I believe something that needs to be address in these fire safety articles is that people, the patrons, need to take proper action when attending venues like this. They need to make management aware of the potential hazards, and if they are not heard, they need to take the initiative of leaving before anything can happen. I don’t think people should always have to be aware and active about fire safety, but I think in times where the dangers are obvious, they should protect themselves and others.
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