I took an
OSHA 30 course (among several others) in college as part of my Occupational
Safety degree and suggested to the professor that we should watch at least something about the Station fire - and not necessarily the raw uncut video. She said "oh no, not that", or something to that
effect. I was a
bit disappointed in that response, because that event can really put things in to perspective. Most of the videos we watched were animated and/or overly-produced and I think it kind of lends itself to a certain detachment to the 'human' aspect of these tragedies. It's one thing to talk about the importance of fire
safety and prevention, and quite another to see the real effects. That being said, we did watch a lot of USCSB videos, and I highly recommend checking them out on YouTube.
I was also a full-time
pyrotechnician during this time, and the Station fire was always at the back (and sometimes the forefront) of my mind, especially when doing indoor
pyro. These fountains (gerbs) were seen as not necessarily "harmless", but very boring and elementary. "Ah, it's just a little gerb show".
We were all aware of their potential dangers and all
safety precautions were taken (following
safety distances 5' greater than the
NFPA minimum, pulling permits, following a site plan, having fire marshals onsite, our own means of fire suppression/minimum number of fire extinguishers on-hand at all times, and of course all operators maintaining a
current NFPA 1126 SEO license). But still, to me it was never 'just a little gerb show'. No, they weren't as exciting as some of the other effects we did, but they absolutely commanded great respect and care when handling and using.
I also thought the Station Nightclub incident should have been required curriculum for our
pyro trainings, but they never did that.
I'm now a Tech Director at a
theatre, and try to use my above experiences to guide myself and others in keeping our building safe; with working Exit signs, yearly certified fire extinguishers,
clear emergency exits, and concise
Stage &
House Manager training. Sometimes it's a battle, because a surprising number of
theatre employees and administrators have little more than passing knowledge of what happened at The Station (and for that matter, the Iroquois, Beverly Hills Supper Club, Cocoanut Grove,
etc).