PROVIDENCE -- Drastic changes to the National Fire Protection Association's standards for bars and nightclubs do not automatically affect Rhode Island law, but they have attracted the attention of key lawmakers.
Going beyond the new sprinkler-system requirements enacted in Rhode Island several weeks ago, the NFPA's Standards Council overwhelmingly voted to recommend sprinklers in every new club serving 50 or more patrons, and in every existing club serving 100 or more.
The new Rhode Island law, approved in response to the Feb. 20 fire at The Station nightclub, calls for sprinklers in nightclubs serving 150 or more.
Rhode Island's fire-safety legislation also repeals grandfather exemptions to modern fire code and adopts the NFPA's standards for new and existing buildings.
The changes to the NFPA standards do not become law in Rhode Island without an act of the legislature, said Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker William Murphy, D-West Warwick.
Berman said the state's Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal & Review is waiting to receive from NFPA the technical language of the new standards. The board is expected to review the new standards, figure out what changes make sense for Rhode Island, and then take those recommendations to the General Assembly leadership, Berman said. This should all happen in the coming months, he said.
State Rep. Peter Ginaitt, D-Warwick, co-chair of the special legislative commission that developed the state's new fire laws, said lawmakers should study and consider the new NFPA standards. He said there is plenty of time for review -- the bulk of state's new fire laws don't take effect until Feb. 20, 2004.
He said Rhode Island is already, "the first state in the nation to have such aggressive" sprinkler requirements in places of public assembly.
Sen. John Celona, D-North Providence, the other co-chair of the special commission, is convinced that the new Rhode Island law affected the actions of the NFPA.
Celona has asked the Senate policy office to compare the new NFPA standards "line by line" with Rhode Island law. He says he is pleased with the new state fire code, but "if they can convince me that [the new NFPA standards] makes Rhode Island a safer state, I'm willing and able to consider that."
The NFPA also approved more safety inspections, mandatory crowd-management training and limits to standing-room only crowds. The NFPA code amendments are part of a model life safety code that has been adopted by 35 states, including most of New England.
Look back at coverage of The Station fire and its aftermath, view a memorial to its victims, find documents, photos, graphics and more, at:
http://projo.com/extra/2003/stationfire/
