The Station nightclub fire
The Station nightclub burned in Rhode Island about 3 years ago, and the owners have been or are being sentenced in the deaths of 100 people. The news had 10 minutes of the victim impact statements and the owners own words in court. While I know that no one intended this fire to happen, nor the deaths, I think that the one person or institute that should have been found guilty of something and instead has been completely exonerated, is the inspectors who looked at the interior of the nightclub, saw the flammable foam on the walls, and cleared the place to open. What in god's green earth is the point of an inspector if they don't have any idea of what they are looking at or for? If a plumbing inspector OK's your plumber's work, and two days later you have an explosion of sewage in your house because he plumbed the toilet wrong, shouldn't the inspector be partly responsible? If a wiring inspector OK's an electrical job and it later causes a fire, shouldn't he also be held to blame? The reason these inspectors are paid is to ensure that the things they are inspecting are up to code. Are the EXITs lit, do the doors open the right way, are the exits accessible. Did no one ever hear of the Coconut Grove fire?
Yeah, other people are to blame. They guy who illegally lit off fireworks, the owners who allowed overbooking and who didn't make sure the insulation was firesafe. But what if someone had accidentally ignited the foam, and there were no fireworks. A candle maybe, or a lighter from someone sneaking a butt? The place went up like a dry Christmas tree BECAUSE NO ONE NOTICED THE FOAM! That was the job of the inspectors, and they failed their job, and they should carry some of the blame. The whole thing is a tragedy, and no jail time will ever bring anyone back, but shouldn't we know that the safety officials in the state or town are now aware of their mistakes and will make sure to check things more thoroughly so this hopefully will not happen again.
And yes, I am opinionated. I don't know how anyone would have missed that.
Yeah, other people are to blame. They guy who illegally lit off fireworks, the owners who allowed overbooking and who didn't make sure the insulation was firesafe. But what if someone had accidentally ignited the foam, and there were no fireworks. A candle maybe, or a lighter from someone sneaking a butt? The place went up like a dry Christmas tree BECAUSE NO ONE NOTICED THE FOAM! That was the job of the inspectors, and they failed their job, and they should carry some of the blame. The whole thing is a tragedy, and no jail time will ever bring anyone back, but shouldn't we know that the safety officials in the state or town are now aware of their mistakes and will make sure to check things more thoroughly so this hopefully will not happen again.
And yes, I am opinionated. I don't know how anyone would have missed that.