If there's one Halloween tradition in Chico, it's celebrating the big holiday. And as always, fire and police officials are teaming up with the area bars to keep the festivities safe.
Action News tagged along for a pre-party inspection of a downtown Chico bar.
The Chico Fire Department is making sure the only smoke wafting from the Madison Bear Garden this Halloween weekend is from the burgers.
Chico fire's Marie Fickert went through a standard fire inspection at the Bear Friday to ensure it's up to code.
Brian Eggers the manager of the Bear says, ”We're making sure we stay within our limits as far as occupancy and then making sure everything all doorways are clearly marked and we're ready to take care of all these people coming through.”
Fickert went over the maximum occupancy limits in the bar...
She says, “When we look at high fatality fires, contributing factor is they were over occupancy.”
She also checked that the fire sprinklers were not blocked by decorations, and most importantly that all exits are clear.
Fickert says, “Businesses need to not block exits so people can get out and not get stampeded.”
As patrons, you too have a responsibility, fire officials say you should know where all the exits are in case you do have to evacuate.
These safety regulations are in place all year long, bars just have to step it up on weekends where the masses come out to play, but the one major thing that will be different about Halloween night, an early closing time.
Fickert says, “Many bars will voluntarily be closing early to help crowd control and it helps reduce risk.”
10 o'clock is when the closing sign goes up Halloween night, a small price bar owners have to pay to keep their establishments safe.
