Athens, GA – Night Clubs and bars in Athens are taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of guests in the event of a fire like the one that occurred in Brazil this past weekend.
The Georgia Theatre reopened in 2011 after having to be rebuilt from the ground up. In 2009, the Georgia Theatre burnt down but because there was not a show going on no one was harmed. The devastating incident has been a lesson to other venues in Athens. Another popular club downtown, The Manor, doesn’t even play with fire. Light Technician David Jenkins explains why the manor is a safe place to be in the event of a fire: “We have two rear exits on either side of the stage and then we have the one entrance but our sliding doors actually all push open to make more room” for people to exit quickly.
The Manor also keeps track of their capacity level by giving out wrist bands. Jenkins says the fire marshall comes by regularly to make sure they do not exceed maximum capacity.
The Georgia Theatre is Athens’ largest club with a maximum capacity of 1,000. Other venues like 40 Watt or The Manor have a capacity of about 500 to 700. These venues are also required to have working fire alarm and sprinkler systems that the fire marshall checks regularly.
Reporter: Laura Dunlap
