Ever since a similar incident in a Rhode Island bar about 10 years ago, departments have changed some of their standards to make sure nothing like that fire in Rhode Island, and now Brazil, doesn't happen here. Sioux Falls is no exception.
Kirk Keupp owns the Borrowed Buck's Roadhouse and says last weekend's deadly nightclub fire in Brazil is a sobering reminder it can happen anywhere.
"Anytime you get a lot of people in a building, it's a concern. you want to make sure you have a plan in place with the crowd if something like that would happen," Buck's owner KirK Keupp said.
And a plan is exactly what he's got because he and his staff won't be taking any chances: like extra emergency exits, up-to-date sprinkler systems and a loud-sounding alarm in tact just in case.
It's protocol fire officials require owners to follow.
"We do the business inspections because we want to keep them open and operating and prevent fires from happening. what it comes down to is use common sense," SFFR Inspector John Wagner said.
Though Buck's doesn't foresee any massive fire, Keupp knows it's better to be safe than sorry.
"We just never know when something like that could happen and we think we've done everything in order to handle our patrons properly," Keupp said.
...Especially because he wants to keep those patrons coming back.
For more information about the City of Sioux Falls' required codes for buildings, click on the link: http://www.siouxfalls.org/code-enforcement/code-videos.aspx
