Public Education

The fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, a blaze at The Station nightclub in W. Warwick, RI, on February 20, 2003, claimed 100 lives. After the fire, NFPA enacted tough new code provisions for fire sprinklers and crowd management in nightclub-type venues. Those provisions mark sweeping changes to the codes and standards governing safety in assembly occupancies.  

Timeline

  • February 17, 2003
    A massive crowd crush at Chicago's E2 nightclub kills 21 and injures others.
  • February 20, 2003
    A pyrotechnic display at a Great White concert at The Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island, kills 100 and injures more than 187. The fire ranks as one of deadliest assembly-occupancy fires in U.S. history.
  • March 13, 2003
    NFPA sponsored a public forum and special meeting of the Technical Committee on Assembly Occupancies in Boston. The meeting was held in response to the Chicago crowd crush incident and the Rhode Island fire. A number of Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs) were proposed to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
  • July 9, 2003
    At a meeting at NFPA's Quincy headquarters, the NFPA Technical Committee on Assembly Occupancies and Membrane Structuresvoted to support several revised TIAs requiring fire sprinklers for all new nightclub-type facilities and for existing nightclub-type facilities that accommodate more than 100 occupants. The committee sent its final recommendation to the NFPA Standards Council. Read the meeting minutes. (PDF)
  • July 28, 2003
    The NFPA Standards Council, issued the TIAs, which took effect the following month that strengthened requirements of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, and NFPA 5000®, Building Construction and Safety Code®. The new TIAs are among the nation's most stringent. Read the Council´s decision. (PDF)
  • January 1, 2004
    The 2003 editions of NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code™, and NFPA 101 became the Rhode Island Fire Code and will become effective on February 20, 2004-the anniversary date of the fire.
  • January 30, 2004
    NFPA completed, at no expense to the state of Rhode Island, multiple five-day training sessions on NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 for more than 250 Rhode Island fire marshals.
  • August 18, 2005
    Provisions requiring fire sprinklers in all nursing homes, in new construction of one- and two-family dwellings, and in all new construction of nightclubs and like facilities, as well as for existing nightclubs and like facilities with capacities over 100, now also apply to the 2006 editions of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code and NFPA 5000®, Building Construction and Safety Code®.