-
Remarks by James Hill, Acting Director, Building
and Fire Research Laboratory
-
Remarks
by William Grosshandler, Lead Investigator, Rhode Island
Nighclub fire (PDF-requires Adobe
Reader)
- Video
(for text description see Grosshandler remarks) (requires
RealPlayer)
The Commerce
Department’s National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today reported
solid progress in the agency’s ongoing federal technical
investigation of the Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station nightclub
in W. Warwick, R.I. At a press briefing in Providence, R.I.,
the investigation team leaders also asked the people of Rhode
Island to volunteer information to help the effort continue
toward a successful outcome.
“As
our investigation moves into its next stages, NIST needs individuals
and groups to share with us any information that they have
about The Station nightclub, its operations and emergency
procedures, and the events in the building on the night of
the fire,” said James E. Hill, acting director of NIST’s
Building and Fire Research Laboratory. “Providing us
key information could greatly enhance our investigation. When
we complete this effort, we want to be able to provide the
kind of recommendations that could prevent this kind of tragedy
from being repeated in other communities around the United
States in the years to come.”
The investigation
is being conducted under the authority of the National
Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act. Under the act, NIST
is authorized to investigate building failures. The NIST investigations
will establish the likely technical causes of the building
failure and evaluate the technical aspects of emergency response
and evacuation procedures in the wake of such failures. The
goal is to recommend improvements to the way in which buildings
are designed, constructed, maintained and used in order to
increase both occupant safety and structural integrity.
NIST
announced at the press briefing that it has established a
toll-free, anonymous phone line for persons with information
to contact the Rhode Island investigation team at (877) 451-8001.
Individuals also can provide information by fax at (301) 975-6122;
by e-mail at ncst@nist.gov;
or by regular mail at NCST Rhode Island Investigation, NIST,
100 Bureau Dr., Stop 8660, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8660.
The Rhode
Island investigation team’s primary objectives are to:
- determine
the conditions in The Station nightclub prior to the fire,
such as the materials of construction and contents; the
location and conditions of doors, windows and ventilation;
the installed fire protection systems; the number of occupants
and their approximate locations;
- reconstruct
the fire ignition, fire spread and survivability within
the building using computer models;
- examine
the impact on survivability of having an installed sprinkler
system, all other conditions being the same; and
- analyze
the emergency evacuation and occupant responses to better
understand the impediments to safe egress.
At today’s
press briefing, NIST’s lead investigator of The Station
nightclub fire, William Grosshandler, said that the investigation
team had made significant progress toward achieving these
objectives.
Among
the accomplishments to date, Grosshandler said, are:
- the
establishment of a partially complete floor plan of The
Station nightclub including the location of vents, doors
and windows, and details about ceiling height;
- the
conducting of laboratory fire tests on three common types
of foam wall covering to provide data for computer fire
simulations;
- the
development of a preliminary computer simulation of the
fire and smoke behavior within The Station nightclub stage
area;
- the
conducting of fire tests on reconstructions of The Station
nightclub stage area, both with and without sprinklers;
and
- the
use of evacuation behavior predicting software programs
to derive an estimate of the length of time needed to completely
evacuate the occupants of The Station nightclub on Feb.
20, 2003.
Grosshandler
stressed that more information was still needed for the
investigation
to most successfully complete its objectives. He asked that
anyone willing to share this information with the investigation
team come forward. (See How
to Provide Information on The Station Nightclub Fire to NIST )
Possible
sources for information about The Station nightclub and the
events of Feb. 20, 2003, Grosshandler said, include survivors,
employees, families of victims, emergency responders, the
media, former employees, previous patrons, contractors, suppliers,
retired first responders and friends of victims.
Among
the key data still required by the NIST investigation team
are:
- details
of the geometry (interior and exterior) of The Station nightclub,
prior to and on Feb. 20, 2003;
- details
of materials and finishes on the ceiling, walls and floors
of the nightclub;
- descriptions
and locations of furnishings;
- the
positions of windows and doors prior to and during the evacuation;
- first-hand
observations of fire and smoke spread, and operation of
the nightclub’s fire alarm;
- the
number and location of employees and patrons present at
the start of the fire;
- accounts
of difficulties encountered during the evacuation;
- casualty
reports; and
- the
number and type of emergency response units, and the approximate
timeline of emergency response activities.
Grosshandler
said that the NIST investigation team will accept this information
in any format, including photographs, videos, recordings,
plans, documents, material samples and personal recollections.
For more
information on the Rhode Island fire investigation and the
NCST, go to http://www.nist.gov/ncst.
For a comprehensive Web site on NIST’s other ongoing
NCST investigation—the study of the fires in and collapse
of three buildings at New York City’s World Trade Center
complex following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2003—go
to http://wtc.nist.gov.
For background on NIST’s more than 30 years of experience
investigating building fire and structural failures, go to http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/factsheet/bfrlinvestigations.htm.
As a
non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Technology Administration, NIST develops and promotes measurement,
standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade and improve the quality of life.
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