Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1977 - 28

THE BEVERLY HILLS SUPPER CLUB FIRE: A LESSON
AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE
RANDALL DAVIDSON, COMMISSIONER

USITT COMMISSION FOR SAFETY

The Entertainment Industry is a multi-billion dollar
conglomerate. The U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology
is composed of professionals who serve and derive a living
from that large industry. USITT's membership is representative of all those who work in entertainment. Because
of its unique status, it is fitting that USITT comment
upon the recent disaster at the Beverly Hills Supper Club
in Southgate, Kentucky. The Institute has been professionally involved with the health and safety of performers
and technicians since its founding. They have contributed
thousands of hours over the years in order that such
catastrophes would not occur. Perhaps, in the months
that now follow, there will be a rededication to the
principles of safety which will ensure entertainment
personnel the world over, that USITT does indeed,
function as a spokesperson for the care of lives and
resources in the Entertainment Industry.
Several months have gone by since the fire and the
writing of this commentary. It is sad to relate, but no
more than a few weeks passed before the event had disappeared from the media and from the minds of the general
public. This in itself, is indicative of the usual treatment
accorded such disasters. The Beverly Hills Supper Club
disaster was not unique, either in the number of deaths
nor property damage, nor in the attitude which usually
follows general fire damage and death in this country.
There is a need for specific perspective in order to positively evaluate the supper club fire and other fires occurring annually. The United States leads the world in fire
damage and fire deaths. Each year the number of fires,
the number of deaths from fires, and the economic ruin
from them, increases. The significance of the Beverly
Hills Supper Club fire lay in its size, the number of
deaths resulting from it and the fact that it was so thoroughly covered in the news media.
It will be included in the fire statistics of this year,
1977, along with the four and one-half billion dollars,
13,000 deaths and 60,000 maimed. In 1977, the total
fire loss will probably exceed fourteen billion dollars.
The United States spends 95% of the funds related to
fires in fighting them and five (5) percent for preventing
them. The Beverly Hills Supper Club seemed to exceed
those percentages.
Why does the Beverly Hills Supper Club take on such
importance in the Entertainment Industry? Was it the
biggest fire? No. It certainly was Q large entertainment
structure but it is becoming increasingly apparent to
others in this country that we have other large entertainment structures similarly prone to such disasters because
of the same attitudes and lack of preparedness that
seemed to prevail in Kentucky. The National Fire Protection Association, Factory Mutual, A.S. Hall and the
28

WINTER. 1977

National Safety Council show other "entertainment"
fires on that same day and during that week including
theatres, movie houses, lounges, taverns and auditoriums. Three weeks prior to that fire two race tracks
and one large skating rink were totally obliterated. Three
weeks later a night club in New York State and a fire at
Fox Studio occured. The stark fact is, there are dozens
of fires each day in the Entertainment Industry, some
small, some major. There are also injuries and burns.
Above all, there are deaths and traumas.
USITT and my own occupation have placed me in a
unique position of observation and responsibility. Those
of you who are readers of this Journal and of the USITT
Newsletter and who belong to the Commission on Safety,
know the statistics and the destruction in a more intimate
manner than most personnel in the Entertainment Industry. Most of you are also privy to the day by day violations of health and safety practices throughout this
gigantic industry. A substantial number of the practices
utilized as "standard" are in direct violation of the safety,
health and fire regulations of our nation and of your
states and municipalities. Upon close scrutiny, there
are also flagrant deceptions in the application of building
codes and standards. The Beverly Hills Supper Club was
ripe for disaster and in a very true sense, the sword of
Damocles is held over our collective heads. I am in awe,
constantly, why we do not have similar major disasters
every day in our business. What we do have are total numbers which equal those of the Beverly Hills Supper Club
fire. That in itself is a disaster.
Upon reflection, we in the Industry, at every level
and in every form, cannot continue to conceal the fact
that we too are in jeopardy. We are in dire jeopardy if
we look closely enough at the procedures and the state
of our houses and do nothing about the problems we
know exist! We have all been trained in the arts of applying aesthetics through our technical crafts. We have spoken out for artistic freedom and we have practiced a type
of harikari with our technology. To be sure, we often err
on the side of health and safety and prevention, but it
is erring, not common practice. We have been coerced by
agencies and by some standards to practice a little safety.
Some of you have seen the light, either economically
or from humanitarian motives, and reconciled your work
practices with safe procedures. No matter how you came
to the conclusion, I laud the arrival.
However, most still walk the path of the Beverly Hills
Supper Club. The Blue Angel Fire, the Cocoanut Grove
Fire, the Puerto Rican Club Fire, the Beverly Hills Supper
Club Fire with their deaths and their property losses,
liability suits and all the rest of the traumas that have
gone with them, have not yet awakened our militancy to

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

USITT

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1977