# Hundreds dead in Brazil nightclub fire



## MNicolai (Jan 27, 2013)

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/...-brazil-nightclub-fire-kills-at-least-90?lite

https://news.google.com/news/url?sa...ing-alight-8468600.html&ei=6RwFUembI8b8tgeVdg

I'm seeing death tolls ranging from 40-180, but most sources say at least 90.

EDIT: AP just updated its toll to 180 from their original report of 90.

Details to the cause of the fire are only rumor at this time, but what I have found seems eerily like the Station nightclub fire.


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## MNicolai (Jan 27, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Death toll up to 245 at club according to local police: Police up death toll to 245 in Brazil club fire - SFGate

Sounds as though that they may be a final number for bodies from within the club. There are still an estimated 200 people hospitalized.

According to The Times India, many of the victims are teenagers: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...e-in-southern-Brazil/articleshow/18208811.cms


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## Les (Jan 27, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

...If only they had called a professional. 

And when are people going to stop using that cheap foam???


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## gafftaper (Jan 27, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Sounds like 245 is going to be close to the final count. How sad, early reports sound almost exactly like The Station fire but with more than twice the death toll. 

> Michele Pereira, another survivor, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that she was near the stage... “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.


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## SteveB (Jan 27, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Guitarist Rodrigo Martins told Radio Gaucha that the band, Gurizada Fandangueira, started playing at 2:15 a.m. "and we had played around five songs when I looked up and noticed the roof was burning."
"It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks. It's harmless, we never had any trouble with it.
"When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher, the singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."


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## gafftaper (Jan 28, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Weird. The only thing I can find called a Sputnik is a low budget LED mover called the "Light Emotion Sputnik" which seems to come in several models. That seems like a really unlikely ignition source. Perhaps the "Sputnik" in the story is a home brew effect or a nickname for something else. Pyro guys is this common slang for something?


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## MNicolai (Jan 28, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*


gafftaper said:


> Weird. The only thing I can find called a "Sputnik" is a low budget LED mover. That would be a really unlikely ignition source. Perhaps the "Sputnik" is a home brew effect or a nickname for something else.



Maybe these are what they were talking about: Weco PowerSputnik - YouTube


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## gafftaper (Jan 28, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

That makes a lot more sense. Hang them close to something flammable and you've got a problem.


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## MNicolai (Jan 28, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Interesting new developments.

Security guards apparently tried to restrict the egress of people. This is believed to be because the security guards had not become aware of an emergency situation and wanted people to pay their tabs before they left.

The entire band made it out safely but then one member died as he returned inside to get his accordion.

Police have arrested three people in connection with the fire and are seeking a fourth. It sounds at this time that it is an investigative measure while they question people and that charges have not yet been made. Supposedly the arrested people include two band members and a co-owner of the club.

Except that the band member who died was an accordion player instead of a guitarist and that more than twice as many people died in this fire, this is looking more and more like an identical repeat of the Station fire.


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## MNicolai (Jan 28, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

More developments: Neglect, errors to blame in Brazil nightclub fire


> There was no fire alarm, no sprinklers, no fire escape. In violation of state safety codes, fire extinguishers were not spaced every 1,500 square feet, and there was only one exit.




> The flames at that point were barely noticeable, just tiny tongues lapping at the flammable material. The band's singer, Marcelo dos Santos, noticed it and tried to put out the smoldering embers by squirting water from a bottle.
> 
> The show kept going. Then, as the ceiling continued to ooze hot molten foam, dos Santos grabbed the drummer's water bottle and aimed it at the fire. That didn't work either, Rizzi said. A security guard handed the band leader a fire extinguisher.* He aimed, but nothing came out; the extinguisher didn't work.
> *
> At that point, Rizzi said, the singer motioned to the band to get out. Rizzi calmly made his way to the door — the club's only exit — still thinking it was a small fire that would quickly be controlled.




> The cavernous building was divided into several sections, including a pub and a VIP lounge — and hundreds of the college students and teenagers crammed in couldn't see the stage. They continued to drink and dance, unaware of the danger spreading above them.
> 
> Then, the place became an inferno.




> "I was halfway across the floor, I could see the door, but the air turned black with this thick smoke," he said. "I couldn't breathe. People started to panic and run toward the door. They were falling, screaming, pulling at each other."
> 
> The manager, meanwhile, was outside dealing with a drunk and belligerent young man. No one there had any inkling of the desperate scene unfolding just beyond Kiss' black, sound-proof double doors, said taxi driver Edson Schifelbain, who was in his car, waiting for passengers.
> 
> ...




> "It was all so fast, there was no time for anything, no time for crying over a friend," he said. "It was dead people over here, living over there. Body after body after body."
> 
> Both Rizzi and Disconzi were there when they broke into one of the bathrooms and found a tableau of nearly indescribable desperation: It was crammed with bodies, tangled and tossed like dolls, piled as high as Rizzi's chest. In the darkness and confusion, concert-goers had rushed into the bathroom thinking it was an exit. They died, crushed and airless in the dark.
> 
> ...



If only that fire extinguisher had worked -- that may have been the end of it before the rest of this tragedy ever began.


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## gafftaper (Jan 28, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*


> In the darkness and confusion, concert-goers had rushed into the bathroom thinking it was an exit. They died, crushed and airless in the dark.


Again the similarities to The Station fire are stunning.


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## BillConnerFASTC (Jan 31, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

A collection of stuff - being updated regularily - at NFPA: NFPA :: Safety Information :: For consumers :: Occupancies :: Nightclubs/assembly occupancies


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## bobcatarts (Jan 31, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*


MNicolai said:


> If only that fire extinguisher had worked -- that may have been the end of it before the rest of this tragedy ever began.



I just gathered all the fire extinguishers in my venue for their annual service - something that hadn't happened in 4 years prior to my being hired last year- and found 2 without pull rings, including one that had been discharged where it sat. Nobody told me. It would have been totally okay if someone said, "oops, this happened" and brought it to me. It gives me chills to think about a fire in just my small venue 100 seat venue, let alone this.

My resident companies have all been reminded of where extinguishers are located, and to be careful moving them. All of my safety reminders end with "Scenery is replaceable. You are not."


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## BillConnerFASTC (Jan 31, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

I just re-read and listened to some of the pod casts and must say, I find calling the applied foam "sound proofing" regrettably misleading. Do the squeaks among us agree that it's sound absorption or at least acoustic treatment, not sound proofing?


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## DuckJordan (Jan 31, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Hell it probably wasn't even that, it was probably mattress foam with no flame retardant.


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## danhr (Jan 31, 2013)

*Re: Hundred(s?) dead in Brazil nightclub fire*

Our new 120 seat venue opened Nov. 1st. I put in 2 more exit signs and emergency lights than were required (and replaced the existing ones because we couldn't find batteries for the old ones ) and one extra heavy duty fire extinguisher. The space has sprinklers. I also put in multiple panic switches to turn on all the work lights, separate from the stage and house lights. They are positioned so that a staff member is always a few feet away. And sometimes I still worry if it's enough.......


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## tjrobb (Feb 1, 2013)

We have annual fire extinguisher and fire sprinkler checks, per code. The one extinguisher the gent found bad was immediately replaced- he literally went to his van and got a new one. No downtime, no excuses. I also am personally responsible for tracking the health of 165 exit signs, lights, and extinguishers; these get checked at least twice a year.(I could tell you right now which five need replaced.)


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## BillConnerFASTC (Feb 1, 2013)

That's great!

Not to bust your chops because by being here you are probably in the top 20% or so anyway, but do you have an emergency plan? Do you have the required number of crowd managers (1/250 or so)? Are they trained? Do you have drills? Do you check the means of egress before every event (an habitual factor in large loss of life fires)? Do you comply with "Access and egress routes shall be maintained so that crowd management, security, and emergency medical personnel are able to reach any individual at any time, without undue hindrance." When did you last test the emergency lighting? Do the furnishings and finishes - including curtains and such - meet the requirements for flammability?


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## Aman121 (Feb 1, 2013)

The lack of attention to fire codes in some venues and institutions frightens me quite a bit. I happened upon a fire extinguisher in the back of a storage room at school that hadn't been recharged or checked since 1991, when the school was renovated. I obviously reported my finding to the administration, and it was replaced promptly, but still it took a nudge for them to even think of checking fire extinguishers. There also was no official plan for evacuating out 1300 seat main performance space until I contacted the local fire marshal and worked with him and some of the admin to create a formal plan. I feel that for some people the only nudge that will get them to pay attention to fire safety is their building burning down witha sever loss of life. Then they may finally deiced to start checking fire extinguishers.


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## tjrobb (Feb 2, 2013)

Yup, exits and aisles stay clear at all times; I'm a janitor so I check as I clean before the show. No, we don't have properly trained crowd manners, however all ushers, new and returning (volunteer), are walked through our emergency exit plan before each show. Last tested early January (spreadsheet is at work, I'm at home). I should also mention the gent responsible for the health of our fire alarm is our ATD, who is NICET certified, so the system is constantly monitored for problems.


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## JohnD (Mar 23, 2013)

Here is a more recent report:
Owners, Band Face Murder Charge for Brazil Nightclub Blaze (VIDEO)


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## MNicolai (Mar 24, 2013)

I'll be interested to see if they end up going so far as to also file criminal charges against the mayor as that news report states that they are considering.


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