Fire inspector night shift goes dark in the city that never sleeps

Pure Nightclub was more crowded than usual on the night of Sept. 30, 2006, as the Mariah Carey after-concert party got rolling.

The trendy hot spot inside Caesars Palace was so jammed, in fact, the Clark County Fire Department's night-shift inspector was called to determine whether Pure had exceeded its designated occupancy level. Pure has been in the news lately after its corporate offices were raided by IRS agents seeking evidence in a tax fraud investigation focused on the large cash amounts received by the nightclub's doormen.

But this is a door problem of another kind.

Here's what I've learned: The fire inspector called for club management to "hold the door," meaning to temporarily prevent more customers from entering, until the mass of partyers inside thinned out a bit. It's the kind of judgment call inspectors are paid to make.

He wasn't attempting to close the club. He was trying to ensure it complied with county fire occupancy regulations designed to prevent a catastrophic event.

Instead of following the decision, two members of Pure management asked to speak with the inspector's supervisor. The discussion ended with the inspector leaving the club, one informed source said.

Mariah Carey, her entourage and fans continued to flow in. From the official photos posted on the Web, the party that night was a rousing success.

And, of course, no one was injured or killed because a fire didn't break out. In addition, there was no human stampede because no one was made to panic.

But, according to one source, something very important did come at least in part from that disagreement at the door of the nightclub.

In January 2007, the Fire Department discontinued its practice of placing a fire inspector on the night shift.

That's right.

In Las Vegas, with arguably the hottest nightclub and topless cabaret culture in the world, the fire department charged with keeping the Strip from burning down gave its inspector the night off. Every night, in fact.

For all its personnel, the Fire Department couldn't afford a single raw recruit, wet-nosed Dalmatian, or even the Maytag repairman.

All complaints and concerns about potentially dangerous overcrowding at clubs that came in after dark were handled by the Fire Department dispatch operators, who forwarded them to the inspectors, who arrived for work the next morning.

I'm no nightclub denizen. My polyester groove stopped shaking around the end of the disco era.

But don't nightclub overcrowding problems generally diminish around sunrise?

Now I get it: No crowd, no violation. No violation, no problem. The logic is flawless if you're trying to protect the nightclub industry.

If you're in charge of fire safety for all of Clark County, you have some explaining to do. So I called Chief Steve Smith on Friday and asked him to explain.

"We had so much demand and need during normal business hours, and we didn't really have complaints being brought forward to us," Smith said. "Because of all the growth and the inspections that occurred during the day, we don't staff that nighttime inspector position at this time."

That probably will be changing after Wednesday's release of the 96-page report of New York-based consultant Michael Kessler, which charged that Clark County building and fire inspectors have been derelict in their duties, falsified reports and showed favoritism to commercial property owners.

Were some fire inspectors being pressured not to do their jobs? Were they threatened with "calls downtown" if they didn't go easy on clubs at some Strip properties?

At least one informed county source said that's precisely what happened. Chief Smith countered that he's unaware of any "undue pressure being applied" to inspectors and met Thursday with fire prevention personnel to raise the issue.

A Pure spokesman said in an e-mail Friday night, "We always strive to cooperate with safety officials."

After the release of the Kessler Report, Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine sent out a message outlining the whistle-blower protection policy.

"Up to this moment right now, no one has responded back to myself," Smith said.

But the chief does appear to be responding to the deficiencies outlined in the Kessler Report. Among the 14 additional positions he's seeking "to meet all the demands that have been placed upon us," he also considering adding two night-shift fire inspectors.

In less than a week the position went from expendable to essential.

That qualifies as progress in the party capital of the world.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.