In the early part of Saturday night, May 28, 1977, a fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, KY left 165 dead, 70 injured and a legacy of what not to do when a fire is discovered.

“Poor building design was a major contributing factor to the significant number of deaths and injuries,” said Chris Jelenewicz, engineering program manager with the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. “Additionally, many lives were lost because the fire burned out of control for a considerable amount of time before the occupants were notified that an emergency existed in the building.”

Fire investigators believed the cause of the fire to be electrical failure. The fire started in a concealed space in an unoccupied room, where it burned unnoticed for a significant period. Once discovered, instead of notifying the occupants to exit the facility, courageous staff unsuccessfully attempted to extinguish the fire. Soon after, the fire spread quickly throughout the one-story building via the main corridors.

Over 2,400 people occupied the building at the time of the fire. Over 1,200 were in the Club’s largest room, waiting to hear entertainer John Davidson perform. Following the fire, it was determined that this room did not have a sufficient number of exits.

By the time the occupants of the largest room were told to exit, heavy black smoke was observed there. The majority of the fire deaths occurred in this room. In addition, the building was not equipped with a sprinkler system or a fire alarm/detection system.

“Because of the delay in notification, the lack of fire protection systems and an insufficient number of fire exits, the occupants just didn’t have enough time to get out alive,” said Jelenewicz.

Most of the deaths were due to the inhalation of smoke or toxic gases, but additional factors included combustible interior finishes, a delay in calling the fire department and the lack of an evacuation plan.

As a result of the fire, many building requirements were enhanced to make nightclubs and other buildings with large populations safer from fire. Some of these requirements included provisions for improved exiting systems, safer interior finishes, emergency planning and the installation of fire alarm and automatic fire suppression systems, though they weren’t enough to protect the 100 people who died in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, RI in 2003.

Moreover, the fire provided new insight for the fire protection engineering community on how humans behave in fires. For example, in the Beverly Hills fire, it was observed that the wait staff assisted in the evacuation of the patrons.

These types of observations showed how the roles and responsibilities of building occupants influence decisions made during a fire, said Jelenewicz. At the 20-year anniversary of the fire, the “Cincinnati Enquirer” wrote editorialized, “it was a night of horror and heroism, of unspeakable carnage and unshakeable courage. Whether or not you witnessed the blaze, which eventually killed 165 people, your life was affected by it.”

The fire will certainly be a topic of discussion at the National Fire Protection Association’s World Safety Conference & Expo in Boston June 3-7, which will feature a special presentation on the Station Nightclub Fire.

For more information about both fires or protecting your building from fire, go to www.sfpe.org and www.nfpa.org.

Stay safe. Thanks and good luck.