NFPA Journal - July/August 2012 - (Page 68)
FEAtuRE
ASSEMBLY OCCUPANCIES
the grandstand stage area at the Indiana state Fair last August, moments after the collapse. some venue experts see the event as a catalyst for improving emergency planning and management procedures.
A Better Plan
In the wake of last year’s deadly stage rigging collapse at the Indiana State Fair, code and crowd management experts are using tools like NFPA’s Life Safety Code to create stronger, more effective procedures for emergency planning and management
BY FRED DuRsO, JR. On August 13, 2011, the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis was in full swing, and a flurry of activity was occurring on the 250-acre (101.2-hectare) site. At the outdoor Hoosier Lottery Grandstand Stage, where the popular country group Sugarland was scheduled to perform at 8 p.m., workers were building a large structure—roughly 107 feet (32.6 meters) long, 57 feet (17.4 meters) wide, and 56 feet (17.1 meters) high—over the stage for suspended spotlights and other sound and lighting equipment. About a half block from the grandstand stage, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds’ Joint Operations Center, a worker was responsible for contacting the National Weather Service (NWS) for frequent forecast updates while the fair was in progress. Forecasts that day called for potentially severe weather for central Indiana. After one NWS update, the worker jotted down a brief note: “If it organizes, strong winds and possible hail.” By 6 p.m., Sugarland fans were already claiming their spots in front of the stage and in the nearby grandstand. It was also around the time that the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, since the impending storm had produced quarter-sized hail and 60-mile-per-hour (97-kilometer-per-hour) winds in other parts of the state. The public safety
ONLINE
For video interviews with NFPA’s Ken Willette and Fred Durso, Jr., and for links to the investigation reports produced on the Indiana State Fair incident, visit nfpa.org/ emergency_ planning
68
NFPA JOURNAL JULY/AUGUST 2012
Photograph: AP/Wide World
http://www.nfpa.org/emergency_planning
http://www.nfpa.org/emergency_planning
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2012
NFPA Journal - July/august 2012
Contents
First Word
Mail Call
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Fenway at 100
Crowning Achievement
Safety at Center Stage
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2011
What’s Hot
Looking Back
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