The Cocoanut Grove Revisited

The 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire (See "An Answer and a New Puzzle" 8/7) started when a waiter, searching for something on the floor in a dark corner of the room, lit a match. Some paper decorations then caught fire. The fire quickly spread throughout the club. Customers got trapped inside. 492 people died.

Three things caused the customers to get trapped:

1. The main entrance was a revolving door. Panicked customers trying to get out clogged the door, preventing it from opening.
2. A door leading to a side street was locked.
3. A window facing the main street was boarded up.

As a result of this tragedy, building codes throughout the USA were changed. The new rules were:

1. Revolving doors had to have a regular door next to them.
2. All regular doors had to be unlocked while the building was open to the public.
3. All regular doors had to open outward.

The next time you are in a public building, check to see if these rules are being followed.