Early Sunday morning, over 230 people were killed in a horrific nightclub fire in Southern Brazil. Similar to the night club fire in Rhode Island in 2003, which left over a hundred people dead and 200 more injured, the blaze in Brazil looks to have been caused by the band’s pyrotechnics igniting insulation in the ceiling.
Several arrests have been made in connection with the fire
for investigative purposes as victims’ families begin to pick up the pieces and
cope with this horrific tragedy. Today,
funerals will begin in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil, for the more than 200
people that lost their lives in the nightmarish event.
As a practicing personal injury attorney in Providence, RI,
I helped get many of the cases stemming from the 2003 deadly Rhode Island nightclub fire into federal court. Few
understand the scope that such a disaster can have on the victims. For the victims that lose their lives, their
families are left to deal with the financial consequences of losing a member of
the family, possibly a primary provider.
Children can be left to deal with the loss of a parent or both parents and
forced to fend for themselves. Parents can be forced to cope the emotional scarring of losing a child.
For the survivors, many are left with permanent physical
injuries such as scarring and severe burns.
The lucky victims that manage to escape bodily harm and permanent
physical injury, are left in a fragile emotional state that can lead to
permanent emotional scarring, which can significantly detriment a victim’s
ability lead a normal life thereafter.
Accountability for these types of unthinkable events can be
difficult to pinpoint. But, it is
incredibly important to narrow down who is responsible for these tragedies, if
only to set an example for future nightclub owners as to their
responsibilities. Those responsibilities
to guests include safety protocols that must be adhered to in order to meet
certain standards. Failure to comply
with such requirements should result in stiff penalties and fines, so that club
patrons are protected and ensured they will be kept out of harm’s way.
As a lawyer with over 40 years of experience in personal injury law, and because of my familiarity with these types of cases, a familiarity I
acquired while fighting for the victims of the 2003 Rhode Island night club fire, I can tell
you there will be numerous factors used to determine the cause of this tragedy and
to determine where the fault will ultimately lie. Early reports indicate the club was at capacity with 1,000 to 2,000
people. If this is deemed to be
“over-capacity,” the club will likely face numerous lawsuits pertaining to the
fire.
Fire codes are put in place to protect
people. The capacity of a building is
determined by fire marshals and enforced in order to ensure there is enough space for people to exit in case of emergency. When you have
a building that is filled to capacity and more, if there is a situation
where people need to make a hasty exit, chaos ensues and people are likely to be
seriously injured or even killed while exiting the building. This is evident in prior examples of these types of disasters.
In Rhode Island, the 2003 nightclub fire prompted officials
to enact and enforce sweeping changes to the State’s fire code with one
intention; a tragedy like the night club
fire never occur again. Sprinklers are
now required in nightclubs and bars with occupancy limits of 100 people or more,
nightclub workers must be trained in fire safety and money needs to be set
aside for fire safety classes. Rhode
Island has also banned the use of pyrotechnics in all of its venues with the exception of its largest public arenas, and
local fire marshals are now able to write tickets for violations and order
immediate repairs.
So far, it seems
history is doomed to repeat itself, as nightclub owners have not taken prior
disasters seriously enough to stop them from occurring again. But, the hope is that in determining who is
responsible for this deadly blaze, and holding them accountable, future nightclub owners will be prompted to take proper safety precautions in the future, in order to prevent
tragedies like the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire and now the Brazil night
club fire from ever happening again.
Attorney Ronald J. Resmini, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawyer
Ronald J. Resmini Law Offices LTD
http://www.resminilawoffices.com/
155 South Main St
Suite 400
Providence, RI 02903
P: (401) 751-8855
Like Us on Facebook
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Attorney Ronald J. Resmini, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawyer
Ronald J. Resmini Law Offices LTD
http://www.resminilawoffices.com/
155 South Main St
Suite 400
Providence, RI 02903
P: (401) 751-8855
Like Us on Facebook
Follow Us on Twitter
Watch Our Latest Videos on Our YouTube Channel
