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January/February 2010


A firefighter surveys the ruins of the Santika nightclub in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo: AP/Wide World)

NFPA Looks Back at Fatal Nightclub Fires

NFPA Journal online exclusive, January 2010

By Kathleen Robinson

The Santika Pub fire in Bangkok, Thailand, on January 1, 2009 was just one in a number of devastating nightclub fires that have killed scores of people all over the world. The most recent, on January 2, 2010, at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, killed 154, according to Russian state-run media reports quoted by CNN. But NFPA has investigated nightclub fires as early as 1940, when it produced an investigation report on the Rhythm Club fire in Natchez, Mississippi, in which 207 people died.

Investigation reports available for download:

  1. Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Boston, MA
    November 28, 1942
    Deaths: 492
    Members: NFPA fire investigation report (PDF, 6.3 MB)
  2. Rhythm Club dance hall, Natchez, MS
    April 23, 1940
    Deaths: 207
    Members: NFPA fire investigation report (PDF, 940 KB)
  3. Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, KY
    May 28, 1977
    Deaths: 165
    Members: NFPA fire investigation report (PDF, 7.3 MB)
  4. Happy Land Social Club, Bronx, NY
    March 25, 1990
    Deaths: 87
    Members: NFPA Alert Bulletin (PDF 247 KB)

NFPA Journal has also published numerous articles about such fires, from a feature on the Happy Land fire, which killed 87 people in 1973, to several articles about the deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history: the 1942 fire at the Cocoanut Grove, in which 492 died. And in 2007, NFPA published a statistical report addressing fires in eating and drinking establishments.

Articles available online:

Report available online:

Many of these fires, including The Station nightclub fire in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003, have resulted in code changes and calls for better inspection procedures, as well as the publication of safety information for those who go to nightclubs or any other type of public assembly occupancy.

Code change feature:

Safer nightlife feature:

Safety messages:

 

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