What happened at the Beverly Hills Supper Club?

On 28 May 1977 a fire broke out in the Beverly Hills Supper club, Southgate, Kentucky. It became one of the deadliest nightclub fires in history.

The building construction dated back to 1937, consisting of a two storey unit and a basement. The building was altered throughout its history, increasing the capacity for the nightclub and restaurant area which was at least 1.5 acres in size.

The building was not equipped with automatic detection or a water sprinkler system. At the time of the incident the premises was occupied by around 2,800 people - around 1,300 of whom were attending the cabaret showroom.

How did the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire start?

The fire originated in a small unoccupied function room at the opposite end to the cabaret showroom. As a result the fire was allowed to burn undetected for some time, burning through the combustible items in the function room, through the ceiling and into concealed spaces above the room ceiling.

Company policy at the time was to investigate the cause of the incident before evacuating the site. Staff attempted to extinguish the fire but were unsuccessful - when the time came to evacuate the fire had grown and accelerated rapidly, making it difficult to escape.

Tragically the fire claimed the lives of 165 people and reportedly injured more than 200 others.

What can the industry learn from the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire?

Investigation concluded that a number of building code violations existed, hindering the fire fighting operations. Investigators concluded:

• The club was inadequately designed to hold so many people - the amount of egress afforded occupancy of around 1,000 people only
• The building contained significant fire load with various surface finishes, none of which were flame retardant
• No smoke detection or water sprinkler systems were employed
• Doors on access and egress routes swung the wrong way
• There was an inadequate number of escape exits - even if the alarm had been raised early enough it was doubtful that everyone would have been able to evacuate in time
• Records of the building plans were outdated and did not reflect the building as it stood, hindering firefighting operations
• There was no fire stopping in concealed cavities

This case was the first US lawsuit to use the concept of ‘enterprise liability’.