State fire officials temporarily closed a Baton Rouge night club after agents investigating an overcrowding complaint discovered more than 700 people inside the building — a number far exceeding the building’s capacity limits regardless of coronavirus restrictions, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office.
Officials learned about the mass gathering Saturday night at The Palace 2300, a dance club off Scenic Highway near its intersection with Choctaw Drive, after they initially planned to investigate videos on social media of large crowds at another night club called Pure. But when agents arrived at Pure, they discovered the event had been moved to The Palace.
They rerouted to The Palace, where they found some 725 people packed inside, along with blocked doors and expired fire extinguishers, according to the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office. The inspectors ordered the crowd to leave.
But the Fire Marshal’s Office says that the action was not related to capacity caps on bars and nightclubs amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under Gov. John Bel Edward’s coronavirus measures, indoor events are limited at 25% capacity or up to 75 people. Bars under the current order are capped at 50 people, or 25% occupancy.
Even in the best of times, Louisiana State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said The Palace would have been limited to 100 people because it did not have state approval for larger gatherings, nor did it have necessary fire-safety devices including emergency doors and fire sprinklers.
Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome blasted recent large gatherings that violate coronavirus restrictions, saying they were putting lives a…
“This was not a COVID-action at all,” Browning said Tuesday, adding that his office was enforcing regulations that have been in place since the ‘60s. “It’s built on a very deadly history of deadly fires in commercial buildings that kill people in situations where dance halls and barrooms were overcrowded.”
Torrey Lewis, the club’s owner, disputed the number of people inspectors tallied, saying it was “was nowhere near that many people” in an interview Tuesday.
Browning said he stands by his inspectors’ count, adding that agents had also counted 50 people leaving before they tracked people coming out of the building.
Amid a heightened level of infections in the state and Baton Rouge-area, local leaders have raised alarms that large gatherings could become a catalyst for viral spread.
Not long after videos circulated on social media over the weekend showing long lines outside of Pure, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome blasted those gatherings, saying they put lives at risk.
She vowed to send law enforcement to businesses that aren't following state and local mandates aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus and warned that steeper restrictions might be necessary.
Public health experts, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have said crowded indoor spaces are high risk for spreading the virus, especially when people aren’t wearing masks.
A Baton Rouge club was shut down Saturday night by the State Fire Marshal's Office after it broke multiple fire safety regulations.
The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a financial blow to bars and clubs amid forced closures. They’ve also had to operate under strict rules, including early closing times and off-and-on closures when virus cases become too high in a parish.
Financial relief hasn’t been enough for many small businesses and Black-owned businesses, said Lewis, the club owner. Rules allowing casinos to operate differently than clubs and bars have been unfair, he said.
Lewis, who owns the building that has housed his club for more than a decade, said he could afford to stay closed. But other businesses may not be able to absorb that financial hit.
A study by National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a Washington D.C. nonprofit that partnered with researchers from universities in Utah and New Jersey, found Black-owned businesses across the country had more difficulties getting federal aid than their White peers.
Before being allowed to reopen and lift the state’s cease and desist order, the Palace will need to submit a plan to the Fire Marshal’s office for approval. Lewis said he plans to meet with officials later in the week.
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