The Beverly Hills Supper Club, 1977: “This Isn’t a Fire; It’s a Catastrophe!”
By GLENN CORBETT
This month, we look back at the Memorial Day weekend of 1977. Across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, a fire broke out in the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, killing 165 people. The landmark fire in the “Showplace of the Midwest” resulted in numerous fire safety changes.
The fire began shortly before 9:00 p.m. in the Zebra Room. Once the room’s doors were opened, the fire spread into the rest of the facility, which was occupied by a few thousand people. Most fatalities were found at the other end of the building in the Cabaret Room, where guests were watching a comedy act before the main attraction, John Davidson, came on stage.
This was one of the first fires the United States Fire Administration investigated, a function it no longer performs because of funding limits. Survivors were systematically surveyed about their experiences to learn lessons for firefighting in the future. The emerging issue of smoke toxicity, most notably from burning plastic, was front and center in this fire.
In this fire, the Zebra Room was quickly torn apart and deposited in the parking lot. Establishing the need to conduct a scientifically sound investigation and preserve the area of origin until it is thoroughly assessed and documented is among the legacies of this tragedy. Today’s National Fire Protection Association 921, The Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations, exists primarily because of fire investigations like this one.
To download a PDF of the complete original article, access it online at http://emberly.fireengineering.com/archives.html.
Fire Engineering August 1977
162 Lose Lives in Supper Club Fire
By John D. Peige
In the largest loss of life fire since the Cocoanut Grove 35 years ago, 162 persons lost their lives when fire swept through the huge Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky., last May 28. In addition, more than 100 persons, including several fire fighters, suffered smoke inhalation and burns ….
The fire, which investigators now believe was started by an electrical short, apparently had burned inside a heavily plastered wall of the plush club’s Zebra Room for more than an hour before it was noticed. A small wedding reception broke up early after occupants complained of too much heat in the 15- × 30-foot room. The room emptied and at approximately 8:25 p.m., the door was closed. At 8:45 p.m., employees discovered fire in the room and efforts to extinguish the blaze with three portable extinguishers failed.
The initial alarm was telephoned … at 8:59 p.m….. About the same time, bus boy Walter Bailey interrupted a comedy act in the club’s lavish Cabaret Room to announce the fire. At least 700 persons in the crowded room began to move toward the two exits heading outside.
At 9:01 p.m., both Southgate pumpers and the rescue van, commanded by Chief Richard Riesenberg, responded to what was their first working fire of the year. Fort Thomas, a part-paid department led by Chief Earl Reppetto, also responded with a 750-gpm pumper and a 1,250-gpm quint with an 85-foot aerial ladder … the crowd at the supper club surpassed Southgate’s total 3,200 population.
The split-level building was divided into a number of large and small dining rooms, 18 private party rooms, bars, and the large Cabaret nightclub. A maze of narrow corridors interconnecting the rooms made exits difficult to locate. The building had been doubled in size after it was destroyed by fire in 1970. State codes at that time did not require sprinklers or fire detection systems – and none was installed, The club also had a 3-foot air space between the ceiling and roof which concealed air ducts and the unprotected steel roof supports. Exterior construction was concrete block and brick.
Sees people leaving
As his vehicle climbed the club’s narrow quarter-mile driveway, Riesenberg noticed many persons orderly evacuating the building down the wooden steps of the south exit of the Cabaret Room, which faces Rt. 27. He saw no smoke from this area of the building. Arriving at the club’s main entrance, Riesenberg saw hundreds of panicky people running out of the building. He also saw gray smoke coming from the roof and eaves. Based on these observations, Riesenberg believed the fire was centered in the area of the club’s main bar and directed his initial attack with that thought in mind. He radioed a signal 83 (smoke showing) at 9:05 p.m. [A]n additional 1,000-gpm pumper from Newport [was sent]. The entire [hose laying] operation was accomplished in minimum time since the three departments had flowed water in a drill for this pre-fire plan just two weeks before.
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| (1) Exhausted fire fighters lie on porch of Wedding Chapel after receiving oxygen. (Kentucky Post photo.) |
Black smoke pours out
…. [A] crew was having great difficulty advancing 1½-inch lines into the main entrance against a flow of stampeding occupants. Heavy black smoke now began to pour from the front of the building. The crew … reached the general area of the main bar before they were driven back by intense heat and smoke. They reported that they could find no fire as people continued to stagger out of the building ….
“People were standing around everywhere, blocking hose lines and getting in the way of our rescue operations,” Riesenberg recalled. “Some were standing around dazed, unable to comprehend what was happening while others were screaming about their loved ones still inside.”
Conditions quickly grew worse at the Cabaret Room exits. Panic set in. Occupants scrambled out of the building as heavy black smoke began to vent from the exits. This side of the building borders on a steep hill, which made apparatus placement impossible and footing treacherous. As the crew of the Fort Thomas quint approached the south exit door, those escaping from this door began to collapse, stumbling on the steps and falling down the steep hillside.
Bodies found
Suddenly the flow stopped. Wearing self-contained breathing apparatus, fire fighters entered the south exit and found it blocked by bodies. The fire fighters quickly began to move these victims outside, where other fire fighters worked frantically to revive those overcome by smoke and heat. An additional 20 to 30 persons were removed before intense heat drove fire fighters out.
Much the same conditions prevailed at the Cabaret Room’s north exit. Here too, fire fighters found the exit blocked by fallen bodies overcome by intense heat and smoke. Those rescued were being placed on the lawn of the Wedding Chapel, where fire fighters and a group of 12 physicians who had been dining at the club checked for vital signs. Already, the fire was producing its first fatalities as the victims’ faces were being covered with their clothing …. The time was approximately 9:20 p.m…. By now, flames were shooting 100 feet into the night air ….
Most rescue efforts were now concentrated at the north exit of the Cabaret Room. Bodies continued to be brought out as doctors continued triage so ambulances could transport the most serious first.
Riesenberg, who had been totally consumed with operations at the front of the building, now made his way toward the rear along the building’s east side. He came up on the south exit of the Cabaret Room and saw several bodies lying in a row beside the hill. These were the first fatalities he had seen.
As he studied the scene, someone said, “If you think that’s bad, look at the back!”
Making his way to the garden area Riesenberg was shocked at what he saw. “There were bodies scattered all over the place. I immediately thought of my men, I wanted them out of there before they too had to be carried out.” The magnitude of the holocaust was now apparent; “this isn’t a fire … it’s a catastrophe.”
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