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The out-of-state band should not be held to know more about Rhode Island fire safety laws than the local, experienced venue owners. The venue owners sought to profit by bringing in the band. Why should they not bear some of the responsibility for the results of theact they chose to book? Why should they not bear responsibility for the use of unsafe, flamable building materials in their venue?
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The laws for doing pyro are almost the same in every state. Dave stated the three basic things that should have been done no matter where you are doing pyro. 1. Licensed pyro tech, 2. permits, 3. inspection and test fire
The more complex list looks like this:
* Licensed pyrotechnician (who should also have at his disposal the local laws and codes for every state, and county where they will be doing pyro which are easily gotten off the internet or by calling the local Fire Marshalls offices).
The Road manager who fired the pyro at the Great White Show was neither trained, or licensed* A permit should have been pulled for the venue. By pulling a permit, they would have automatically have notified the fire marshall for an inspection and to some extent it would have alerted the local hall that pyro was to be performed at the show.
The Road manager or the Band never pulled a permit for the Station show (or any show that they had done that year)* The bands rider should have stated if pyro was a part of the show, and any contact numbers for the bands pyrotechnician, along with any applicable licensing numbers and certification for the pyrotechnician.
]Great White's rider as shown on the smoking gun mentions no pyro nor did their contract* Permission from the hall or venue should have been obtained before doing pyro, unless it was agreed upon as part of the contract or contract rider.
Great White or the Road Manager/Pyro guy never notified the venue verbally or in writing about pyro (at least according to the venue owners and club personnel) * An inspection of the venue from the pyrotechnician and the Fire Marshall should be done. The pyro technician may be asked to perform a test firing of any or all devices to be used at the show for the Fire Marshall.
no permit was pulled, and no inspection was done. Even if the band's pyro guy had a clue, a simple visual inspection of the venue would have shown that the place was not suitable for pyro (not enough height over devices, blocked exits, foam and other questionable substances around stage area, no safety equipment, etc)* The pyro devices instruction need to be followed. In the Great White Tragedy, it is clear that the manufacturers instructions regarding the pyro device in question were not followed.
The devices used in the Great White Tragedy stated a minimum clear height that needed to be over the devices to safely operate them. This clear height rule was not followed* A Fire Watch and Safety Observers need to be present during all pyro use. A minimum of 2 safety people need to be present during any pyro activities. Both should be on the lookout for any hazards associated with the pyro, such as performers or audience standing to close to a device, a device that was knocked over, etc. Both should be in a position to cover all stage areas visually, and have either a dead man type switch to stop the pyro firing, or be in radio/clear comms communication to the firing technician. On small shows, one of the two people may actually do the firing of the devices. On larger shows, its not uncommon for three or more pyro safety folks to be used. These safety folks should be trained to use fire extinguishers, and should have them at the ready by their side.
Great White's road manager acted as the pyro guy, and had no other safety folks there, nor did he act as a safety/fire watch himself. He had no extinguisher with him, not did he try to contain the blaze as it started* Safety and Fire equipment needed for pyro is usually brought in by the pyro folks. In addition, the venues in house safety equipment will be checked (usually by the fire marshall)
Great White and their guy brought in no fire extinguishers, or any other safety equipment with them, and never checked out the venue's safety equipment (or lack there of) * Pyro devices are supposed to be transported in properly labeled vehicles, and properly designed and labeled containers.
Great White and their Road Manager carried the pyro in their bus, which had no warning placards on it. In addition, they did not use an approved or labled pyro shipping/storage container.* A Pre-show safety meeting is the norm for all pyro, and dangerous special effects. All performers, crew, safety personal and security personnel should gather at a preshow meeting and go over what will happen onstage. Any emergency contingency plans are discussed, and peoples individual assignments are gone over.
Great White Road Manager never called a safety meeting, or discussed plans to do pyro with any of the venue personnel, security folks, or crew.The simple fact is that if Great White's Road manager/Pyro Guy had even a small clue, he would have noticed that:
A. The Venue was too small for his pyro devices to be used onstage and
B. The Venue had questionable materials all around the stage that would have been too close for any pyro device.
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Topic: New Station Nightclub / Great White Lawsuit (Read 11484 times)