How it happened: Beverly Hills Supper Club fire

[@sed6657]

Genuinely one of the most horrifying things to me. Saw a Nexpo vid about that night club that this happened to, too. The idea of being piled up in doors, knowing that you and everyone around you will burn is so gut-wrenching. I can’t fathom, and I hope I will never have to, having to experience this as a loved one or a victim.

[@brandielambright460]

Sydnee B I am right there with you on that!

[@angelamartin2811]

I remember hearing about when the firefighters opened a door and bodies piled up and there was a lady that was sitting there in shock alive surrounded by dead bodies. So sad 😞

[@moemcgovern7345]

If the owner put more into safety, like sprinkles and smoke alarms, it might not have been so severe. Plus, it was definitely over crowded. That place was a fire box.

[@Jhihmoac]

I remember this incident in the headlines back then...It was almost as bad as the Cocoanut Grove Club tragedy in Boston in 1942...

[@RickyIcecubes]

It was horrible but not even close to as bad as Cocoanut Grove.

[@drbluzer]

I was the safety representative where I worked and the main thing that I always said was " If you enter any building , the first thing that you should do is to find out where are the fire exits "! I was in my 20's when this tragedy occurred and I was horrified at the sheer loss of life due to this fire . The main cause of death was the smoke from the burning plastic chairs and other items . When plastic burns , it produces deadly hydrogen cyanide gas , the same gas that used to be used in the gas chambers to execute death row inmates before the use of tha gas chamber ceased .

[@johnsalomone5101]

Oo, look for fire Exits wait do you need glass how can any half wit not see red fire Exit, signs,,& big doors right under them ,, wow,, No,, your Absolutely wrong the main cause was the Occupancy,,after that comes death,, can't change that fact,, if you get in a crowded over filled place then you die of plastic chairs & inside ,furnishings,,// good thing a fire never broke out were you were in charge of safety Representative, cause you will let everyone in over capacity,, & then say we'll the plastic chairs killed your loved ones ,,sorry I thought to let them in to see the show,,/ only if the place didn't catch on fire,, -&- you would say but they got to see the show though before I killed your love ones,, NO NEED TO THANK ME,,!!!!!!!,

[@fredericklockard3854]

I remember that night. We lived in Cincy. We stayed up all night watching TV.

[@radamik]

Remember when this happened. That night I was at a disco in Pa. with my friends, they were playing “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer which had just come out, but only for DJ’s. I was wearing a short sleeved terrycloth shirt. On Monday (Memorial Day) I went to a friend’s house in New Brunswick N. J. to see his dogs, it was cloudy and kind of cool. We watched this fire on the news. I had a dark green ‘76 Datsun B-210 hatchback.

[@brodywhalen6150]

It’s crazy to think that my grandma was there when it happened, she was there for her parents anniversary. 😕

[@devanshouse5027]

Did she survive...?

[@robertwhite9898]

Holy cow.

[@michaelshields7777]

Sounds similar to the Station Fire in Warwick, Rhode Island, when Great White performed there and used pyrotechnics which they had been told not to use, but they used them anyway, which started the fire. Hundreds of people died that night

[@MinisterManDan]

Very different. The building was so huge and had been added onto so many times and a lot of the additions didn’t meet code. No alarm system or sprinkler, the only way to alert patrons was to go room by room and holler fire. It was a very small fire at first, if the bare minimum of precaution existed, nobody would have been hurt.

[@Lycan_Jedi]

@@MinisterManDan Station had no safety precautions as far as fire. Was a small fire when started that easily could've been stopped with proper safety equipment and was victim of a backdraft/crush as well. It's basically the same fire. The only difference was the size of the buildings.

[@su-rv2uq]

Also way too many people were in the Station.

[@scarpfish]

100 people died at the Station, not "hundreds".

[@mic8040]

@@Lycan_Jedi similarities but not the same fire. It was not a small fire when it started in the station, it started in about 15 seconds and in 2 minutes it was flashower.

[@cumulus1234]

I read in a newspaper article that information learned from this fire resulted in the term “Backdraft” being used for certain fires.

[@Lycan_Jedi]

It was textbook backdraft. The room the fire was in was closed. No open windows or doors. It was left long enough to consume almost all oxygen and was surviving solely on the items in the room. It wasn't until the door was opened by an employee that oxygen blew in to the room. It was only about 5-10 Minutes later it resulted in the backdraft.

[@EuroMIX2]

@@Lycan_Jedi Makes me wonder what would have happened if the staff hadn't tried to fight the fire themselves.

[@Lycan_Jedi]

@@EuroMIX2 Given the fact no one knew what a backdraft was back then the most that COULD have happened was more people got out. It probably would have still happened as soon as Fire crews opened the door.

[@brendadrew834]

Tragic, ate there in 1970s at age 21 with my NYC roommate who was from Cincinnati, OH! We had flown to her home state for a visit where her parents took us there to eat! Haunted by this horrible story for decades! May those who lost their lives rest in peace. smdh

[@donnadreyer2580]

That's How We Rolled in 1977 , People jumped right in to Help ANYONE ! That's just how We rolled I commend the Kids who jumped right in They didn't ask for a penny. I was 7:Years in 1977

[@MrEdongzki]

what was that @1:18 ,a ghost like face created by leaves?

[@catcxd4861]

mcfly .hur. Eerie .....

[@spacecat3198]

Bloody hell that’s creepy. But paradolia is hell of a thing (spelling may be wrong, spell check on my phone is rubbish).

[@Sammy-mp9xn]

Saw alot of eerie images in the flames

[@cbislands12]

1:54 👻

[@blackgoddess4431]

it's def, a face. Soo sad mann them ppl wasn't supposed to go like that.

[@alistairmcelwee7467]

If, like me, you’re in California, you may not remember a fire in Beverly Hills. This fire was in Kentucky. Not in Beverly Hills. So truly horrible and then some.

[@blackgoddess4431]

Honey, Now I literally live in Covington, Ky. 5-10mins, away from the area. I thought Beverly Hills ,Ca. When I found out Southgate, Ky. Talking bout feeling dumb!!!!! Not Cali, Don't feel bad!!!!This is really heart breaking.

[@LadyCatFelineTheSeventh]

So they sued GE instead of the club? I mean, faulty wiring happens (we don't want it to, but it does). That's why fire alarms and smoke detectors exist. The club had none. Did I not hear this right? Suing GE seems pointless. If the club had the proper alarms, no one or very few would have died. It's like suing the tire company because the brakes stopped working and they went flat when you hit a tree. Not the best analogy probably. I'll have to watch the video again. Maybe it was just the club owner that sued and not the victims families.

[@1234597114]

GE was sued do to the aluminum wiring being faulty. As a result that type of wiring is no longer permitted. How the wiring was installed is another matter. That has nothing to do with the other violations. The other violations ( massive building code violations and over crowding ) were allowed due to inspectors turning a blind eye to a cash cow for the community. This type of thing is still happening. That place was a cobbled together mess! Saying ( faulty wiring happens we don't want it to, but it happens ) is a pretty cavalier attitude.

[@LadyCatFelineTheSeventh]

@@1234597114 That was the club's business, they owned the building. The victims should have sued the club owners only. The fact that they went after GE shows how greedy lawyers are. It should have been victims sue club, club is fined and convicted for wrongful death and multiple code violations, club sues GE for faulty wiring. GE is fined for releasing a known faulty product to the market.

[@1234597114]

You clearly don’t know the background on this. I mentioned in my previous comment about multiple codes violations. Slowdown. Listen and read carefully. Several entities were sued over this and litigation went on for years. You might want to look into the facts on things before speaking out of turn. The news report in this video was on the 1st anniversary of the event. Litigation was just getting started. Did Stan Chesley go after the big bucks? Absolutely! I’m not arguing that point just the errors you are presenting.

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

GE was fined because aluminum wiring was determined to be the cause of the fire. Since then aluminum wiring has been discontinued across the country. It was a deadly faulty product. That's why it's not used anymore.

[@Jmjdit]

I thought this was a case of arson blamed on the wiring...

[@spacecat3198]

Damn how horrible. Imagine being caught in that. Does anyone think the mafia really did it? I wonder if anyone still struggles to this day? (On another note: the 70s styles were pretty cool).

[@marlagarrason2005]

I saw another comment on another page saying the Mafia could've been upset cause the owners refused to sell.

[@katemaloney4296]

You watch too many movies and TV shows. The Mafia isn't full of stupid people; they know if they had torched that building with HUNDREDS of innocent people inside and it could even be remotely traced back to them, all hell would break loose. Trust me, the FBI was on this and would have LOVED to link it back to the mob, but they couldn't. But had they had one shred of evidence to suggest, the FBI would have been on the mob like a hungry duck on a grasshopper and it would have been EVERYWHERE. That said, it is possible that those who are still alive (I am going to guess the average age of the attendee was 55) they still suffer from a range of things---PTSD to dealing with disabilities). We didn't have the post-trauma counselors and therapy we have now. You either lived with it and moved on with life, or you didn't and turned to substances to help you cope, or worse. The motto was "It's over, it's done; pick yourself up by your bootstraps and get on with life". (And if you think 70s styles were pretty cool, it's because you didn't have to wear them. I wouldn't wish avocado green plaid shirts and/or bell bottoms on anyone! But at least we kept our trousers pulled up.)

[@IronDiva]

Space Cat They don’t hit civilians

[@rabbit0664]

This is the old mafia not gangs. They wouldn't go in guns a blazing killing people that have nothing to do with them.

[@radamik]

Lived through the seventies. There was cool stuff AND horrible stuff. The year after this fire a lot of changes in fashion: collars got small, ties skinny, and pants were less flared (though still not really straight leg). In 1980 Billy Joel sang a song with the line “Can’t you tell that your tie’s too wide.” It started in 1978.

[@ecm84ee]

"The evacuation was orderly" well we all know that's a load of shit. Managers told the bus boy to leave so he got up on stage and told everyone. Only about a hundred got up and left the others remained refusing to go as they had paid for the show. It was not till the power went out and they smelt the smoke did they full on painic in the over crowded room causing confusion and bodies were in piles trying to escape.

[@Deehardallelite420]

They built a subdivision on this site now

[@moemcgovern7345]

Very, very sad

[@moemcgovern7345]

This certainly does concern me, since I need to use a walker.

[@jocelynharris-fx8ho]

The video cut off....where's the rest of the story?😮

[@darryl3422]

Fires don't burn for hours and not leave detectable smoke...This was arson but the authorities tried hard to prove otherwise

[@Episcopalianacolyte]

Arson has never been proven. Because of the crowed size, it is unlikely.

[@mariedean3043]

Where’s the rest of the video?

[@krystingrant6292]

I read that this was done by the mafia. They threatened the owner to give them the venue but he refused. 😩😔😞 Horrible.

[@ricksadler797]

Maby the owners burnt it down to prevent them from having it

[@southgatekentuckysouthgate3022]

Yes, Halfred Halloway , and Arthur Reekers.

[@muffs55mercury61]

The Mafia did a lot of things in the 1970s but mass murder?? I don't think they would have gone that far. Rather they would have went in at maybe 3 or 4:00 in the morning when no one was there if they really wanted to torch it.

[@Renville80]

Mark B Fensler I agree. While there was little that La Cosa Nostra couldn’t or wouldn’t do, I think that they tried to avoid collateral damage where they could.

[@robin1431]

Per above commenters: Within the arson theory, many seem to believe that devices rigged to go off in the basement (set up by arsonists posing as maintenance) were set incorrectly and ignited early, so planned Sunday morning property damage became Saturday night mass murder. Robert Webster’s book on the subject is pretty convincing, but I doubt the issue will ever be resolved.

[@RENZO1444]

History keeps repeating itself Travis Scott

[@monaiannucci9434]

Corridor

[@krisone5253]

Folklore says that someone or more set the Beverly Hills Club on Fire 🔥🚒.❓They say that in the SUMMER sweet air on a Hot Summer night that you can still smell the fire in the woods. Ghost HUNTERS BELIEVE IN THIS 💋🙏

[@mikeherrmann5360]

there's an image of a face in the fire at the 1:22 min mark

[@katemaloney4296]

I couldn't hear anything in this report.

[@sharonwhite4847]

I understand that feeling, if you can use, ear plugs or ear phones, it helps, also cc. Other than those 3, idk what to do.

[@sgtmattkind]

wheres the rest of the video?? dislike.

[@VeronicaClayton-yi7sy]

Tragedy

[@hankaustin7091]

Hopefully, that bartender dude with the rotten teeth has a new smile by this point in time, 2018!

[@dustiemarie9121]

Hank Austin their not rotten. Just has a fat gap lol

[@corettaha7855]

How petty

[@RToddJones]

Words cannot describe how very much you suck, Hank Austin.

[@bigj6143]

Hanky Pranky, Why don't you trade places with one of the victims that was trapped in that building. That would be pretty funny in 2018, 19, or any year.

[@jasminebaum9343]

😂😂

[@johnsalomone5101]

As ,, sad is it is of that deadly night , the fire was just terrible,,the owners were 100 % Serial murders,, from there greedyness i think the fire started in the owners pocket,,he was seen putting large bills in his pockets so so fast the heat caught his pocket on fire,, & in minutes he had to pull the money back out quick, & he started the joint on fire & a witness saw the owner with the whole place on fire,, he stolen a oxygen tank & mask from a poor handicap elderly guy in a wheelchair so the supper club owner could get in his registers, & safe to get his cash Receipts,, & the poor handicap man after the own stole his tank & oxygen mask,, a other witness said he pushed the poor man right into the show room,, & yelled wooops,, it slipped,, // just like the county Fire marshall's cash slipped in his fire Exits pants ,, faster than a skalled cat ----,, & boy all the fire Marshall's Neighbors, sad boy there paying good salary ,, beautiful house in fancy cars. A fire Marshall has with the low salary he has.& witness said the night of the club fire he had a front row table,, to Davidson show,, & the Marshall got an escort to the side fire door,,w/ his VIP,, club pass,,,