The news about fires in public places appear more often on television news. The causes of these accidents are mostly explicable to the violation of the main safety rules and the use of flammable materials inside the premises.
Among the public places most affected there are certainly discos.
After cases of tragedies that occurred in the city of Santa Maria (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina), one of the cases which no doubt did more hype in Europe in recent years, it concerns the fire occurred at Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, Romania , October 30, 2015.
That night, during the performance of a rock band, the venue offered a fireworks display that gave birth to the fire and the spread of flames along the ceiling of the room. On that occasion 63 people were killed and other 150 were injured.
The place did not have the required permissions for that kind of show plus many of the security rules provided for public places were not adhered to, first of all those connected with the system of evacuation and emergency exits. From the evidence emerged, moreover, it seems that the phonic material and coating was mostly made of polyester, and therefore highly inflammable.
The Italian fire regulations for places of public entertainment
In Italy, the fire regulations for places of public entertainment is regulated by D.M. 19/08/1996. This provision is intended to safeguard the environment that must be managed with a view to:
- Decrease causes of fire;
- Ensure the stability of the structure, favoring the Exodus and the release of all those present;
- Limiting the spread of fire;
- Ensuring the possibility of intervention of firefighters.
The standard focuses on all components that are called into question in case of fire: location and structure of the premises, materials and their reaction to fire, measures for the exodus of the public, fire systems, electrical systems, systems alarm, water systems and rescue.
Specifically, the alarm systems and fire shall operate properly to allow relief to intervene in good time to secure the life of the present. To do this, we need fire cables suitable to perform this function. Suitable halogen-free cables, like Elanfire, guarantee a higher resistance to fire at 120 ‘and a low smoke emission.
The safety regulations must therefore always be respected, even more so if we are facing a public place where there may be a high turnout of people. Tragedies like the one just described should be prevented, and no doubt avoided.