This is done to make sure that in case there is an emergency, it wouldn't be too crowded as people try to evacuate. If it is too crowded and people are leaving at the same time, there will be pushing and shoving. The smaller and slower individuals would end up getting trampled under the mess.
This is why most nightclubs would make latecomers wait in line outside even after the club is open. If it is too crowded, they usually make the latecomers wait until some people inside leave, then let a few more latecomers in.
But M Nightclub (in Honolulu's Restaurant Row) just lets everyone in, regardless of how crowded it is inside.
I will fax the following letter to the Honolulu Fire Department's Code Enforcement Office
fax # 808-723-7179 (no email listed on the HFD's website https://www1.honolulu.gov/hfd/deptprev.htm
From: Pablo WegesendTo: Honolulu Fire Deparment Code Enforcement Office
I am writing this letter about a possible violation of indoor room capacity at M Nightclub, which is located at 500 Ala Moana Boulevard.
I was a customer at M Nightclub on Saturday, February 15, 2014. I entered the nightclub when it opened at 10pm. By midnight, the indoor section was so crowded that people had to push or shove in order to either
· Get to the restroom· Get to the bar· Just to even exit.
While this was going on, the staff was still letting more customers in. At the same time, some customers who wanted to exit the nightclub from the outside lanai were barred from doing so by the bouncers. Even after the customers told the bouncers that it was nearly impossible for them to get through the crowd to exit via the front entrance, the bouncers wouldn’t budge. And yet, the club was still letting more people into the nightclub.
It was too the point where I stayed in the nightclub’s outside lanai until there was a slight thinning of the crowd at 2:40 am that I even attempted to leave the nightclub.
I have been going to various nightclubs over the decade, and this was the only nightclub that displayed such negligence in crowd management. Also, I remember visiting the same facility when it used to be Oceans808, and it didn’t have displayed the same negligence in crowd management that exists now as M Nightclub.
As fire safety officials, you know what can happen when such an overcrowded facility experiences a fire, gunshots, explosions, or gang fights. People would be pushing and shoving their way out of the facility and those individuals who are smaller or slower can easily get trampled to death in such situations.
Again, I have about a decade of experience visiting nightclubs, but never in my life, until my 2/15/14 visit to M Nightclub did have I felt such anxiety about overcrowding in such facilities.
I also informed the HFD officials that this letter will be posted on my blog and can be read anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
