[quote name=\'Little Big Brother\' date=\'Nov 10 2003, 11:10 PM\']This is probably heading toward off-topic territory, but what is this regulation? I've never heard of it before, and you've tickled my interest.[/quote]
Fire Department regulations. They differ, but are tight in every city in places of "public assembly". The rules started to be strengthened after a series of horrendous fires during the first half of the 20th century in which many lives were unnecessarily lost... The Ringling Bros. circus' outdoor big top tent went up in flames in Hartford, Connecticut, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston had blocked exit doors, etc.
New York City used to be very different than LA, and may still be. There you COULD start a car on stage with the audience present if there was less than a gallon of gas... but it couldn't be in the car's tank, it had to be in a storage vessel under the hood that was rigged directly to the carburetor. In New York those guys who juggle fire or have flaming hoops (!) for dogs to jump through had to have air-tight metal containers in the shape of the flaming objects to smother the fire if the act got out of control. Proper extinguishers had to be at the ready, and a permit had to be issued in advance by a fire department inspector who checked-out the whole set-up. The Ed Sullivan Show used to notify the NYFD whenever any fire act was booked so a permit could be issued.
Then there are many differences between the 2 adjacent cities of LA and Burbank. In LA it is not necessary to have a fire marshall on the premises for all tapings with an audience, but in Burbank the production must pay a fire marshall to be on hand whenever an audience is present in any unusual configuration or whenever the use of the previously audience rated stage is varied at all from the approved use. An off-duty Burbank Fire Department representative is almost always in attendance. In Burbank all audience seats must be anchored to the floor or at least strapped to each other to make the movement of individual loose chairs impossible. That is apparently not the case in LA as "Price" has loose chairs in the center rear of the audience. In ALL cities there are specific requirements for fire exit signs, multiple means of egress (exiting), all curtains must be flameproofed regularly, and all sorts of other very specific stuff.
Randy
tvrandywest.com
