FIR 3311
Fire Prevention Codes: South Metro Fire District
Columbia Southern University
Legal Aspects of Emergency Services (FIR 3311)
Fire Prevention Codes: South Metro Fire District
The recognition of the need and implementation of fire codes to increase public safety is
not a new idea. The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 killed up to 300 people. (Koorsen Fire &
Security, 2020) One year later, the City Council banned wooden building materials, requiring
flame-resistant materials for construction. Three decades later, in 1903, Chicago would again
experience a devastating fire when the Iroquois Theatre burned with 602 people trapped inside.
The construction of the theatre violated numerous fire codes, and when the fire broke out, many
of the exits were hidden behind thick black curtains, and most were locked. After the Iroquois
Theatre fire, the use of a fire curtain became mandatory in large theatres to prevent fires starting
on stage from spreading into the auditorium, which is how the fire started. This fire also
prompted the widespread use of “crash bars” on doors, which were invented some 20 years
earlier, and the requirement that all doors in public buildings be open in the direction of egress,
two requirements that have saved countless lives since. In 1911, the infamous Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory fire claimed the lives of 147 workers trapped on the top three floors of the 10-
story building. The exits had been locked to reduce theft and prevent workers from taking
unauthorized breaks. Many died jumping from the windows to escape the fire, while most
succumbed to flames and smoke inhalation. A year following the fire, New York established the
nation's first fire prevention bureau charged with the development and enforcement of fire safety
regulations.
Fire Prevention Codes: South Metro Fire District
Columbia Southern University
Legal Aspects of Emergency Services (FIR 3311)
Fire Prevention Codes: South Metro Fire District
The recognition of the need and implementation of fire codes to increase public safety is
not a new idea. The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 killed up to 300 people. (Koorsen Fire &
Security, 2020) One year later, the City Council banned wooden building materials, requiring
flame-resistant materials for construction. Three decades later, in 1903, Chicago would again
experience a devastating fire when the Iroquois Theatre burned with 602 people trapped inside.
The construction of the theatre violated numerous fire codes, and when the fire broke out, many
of the exits were hidden behind thick black curtains, and most were locked. After the Iroquois
Theatre fire, the use of a fire curtain became mandatory in large theatres to prevent fires starting
on stage from spreading into the auditorium, which is how the fire started. This fire also
prompted the widespread use of “crash bars” on doors, which were invented some 20 years
earlier, and the requirement that all doors in public buildings be open in the direction of egress,
two requirements that have saved countless lives since. In 1911, the infamous Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory fire claimed the lives of 147 workers trapped on the top three floors of the 10-
story building. The exits had been locked to reduce theft and prevent workers from taking
unauthorized breaks. Many died jumping from the windows to escape the fire, while most
succumbed to flames and smoke inhalation. A year following the fire, New York established the
nation's first fire prevention bureau charged with the development and enforcement of fire safety
regulations.
