Horry County Fire/Rescue ‘To: Chris Eldridge, County Administrator From: Fire Chief Joseph Tem) Re: Atlantic Beach Tent Venue Date: May 25, 2017 Atlantic Beach Festival DJ Tent Issues (On May 23, 2017 Deputy Chief Mike Norket and Assistant Chief Jim Walker went to Atlant Beach to review potential safety concems with Tony Marcus (event promoter). The concerns relate to a tent structure currently erected on the corner of 30" Avenue and South Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Beach municipal limits. The promoter has set up a series of tents with a combined size of approximately 120 x 120 feet. There are alist of safety concerns that were. ‘observed during the vist. For reference purposes related to this list of issues, the only gate for entrance and exits on side A of the lot: Upon approach to the event area from the street, the entrance and ext for this tent area is approximately 8 feet in width. This serves asthe entrance and exit forthe entire 25,0006 square-foot area, You will aso notice that the entire perimeter ofthe lot is fenced in by a 68 foot high chainlink fence. This fence s around the entire lot and bolted together. The venue will hold atleast 1500-2000 individuals. ‘As you walk under the series of tents, the lot has not been leveled. 18-Inch square, rubber tiles have been placed on the ground within the tent. The tiles are sticking up and are trip hazards for anyone walking through the area. ‘There are sides on some of the wals of the tent. Two walls were totally enclosed with plastic sheeting (the Alpha side and the Charlie side on the attached drawing). This creates an extreme hazard in the event ofan incident, ast would block any means of {getting out from under the tents in these areas.‘+ Under the main canopy of the tents, there are areas designated as “VIP areas.” The promoter plans to hang 4 ft. cloth skirting around 3 sides of each seating booth, The area ofthese VIP booths are approximately 6x feet. Sofas are being placed in these areas fr seating. Smoking wil be allowed and with the cloth draping and the sofas in ‘these small areas, the fire load willbe high. Fire proofing on the contents of these areas [s unknown atthe time ofthis report. + Along the exterior of the bravo and delta sides ofthe tent bars have been constructed cutof plywood. Behind the bars. pallets are stacked approximately 4 feet high, They extend the total length ofthe bar. This creates a large fire load ‘+ Onthe Aipha, Bravo, and Charle sides, the perimeter Fencing is approximately 36 feet ‘away from the sides of the tent, leaving very litle roam for egress to get out if there is an incident of any magnitude, ‘+ On the Bravo, Alpha corner ofthe tent area, the portable restrooms and the trucks that carried the equipment have been setup. Ths blocks a sizeable portion af the egress and | also creates a chute, combining incoming traffic, outgoing traffic, and restroom traffic This is at the only egress point on the lot, concentrating a large crow in ths area prior to any event that may occur. ‘+ The promoter also had large rolls of carpet that were going to be placed on the ground over the 18 inch tls. This would cause more ofan Issue due to trip hazards and increase the fire loading under the tent significantly. There are also curtains hanging from every exterior pole ofthe tent, The promoter stated that they would not enclose the est of the walls. If the weather tums bad, i's foreseeable that these walls will be put up to cntinue the event. ‘+ No fire safety equipment was observed on ste, Due to the structure being partially ‘enclosed, with smoking being allowed, and carpet and sofas belng placed under them, | there is high risk ofa fre breaking aut. Any fire would be difficult to bring under control ‘This event poses a high risk fr fire hazards and personal injuries associated with the location and event set up. The above noted concerns will also limit the ability of event attendees to exit the site in an emergency situation. Due tothe anticipated large crowds for the area the respons times are expected to be greater than average for the areses iia; i a si,