Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Architecture, Structures and Construction https://doi.org/10.1007/s44150-022-00032-1 CASE STUDY Investigation on the causes and consequences of Kiss nightclub fre in Brazil Guilherme G. Hennemann 1  · Fabricio L. Bolina 1,2  · Gustavo C. Manica 1  · João Paulo C. Rodrigues 2,3 Received: 21 October 2021 / Accepted: 3 March 2022 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 Abstract Nightclub fres are often catastrophic because it usually outbreak during events that have many people together in a confned place. This is what happened in the Kiss nightclub, in 2013, in Brazil. This paper presents the results of a research in the causes and consequences of this fre. Numerical simulations carried out with the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software allowed to determine the fre spread and the temperature evolution and smoke movement inside the nightclub. They have been also carried out numerical simulations with the Pathfnder software for studying the evacuation event of the nightclub in function of the fre development. These simulations have been carried out for two scenarios: (a) considering what existed in the building in the day of the fre and (b) what should exist in the building according to the current Brazilian standards. The numerical models were calibrated with data taken from reports, news and videos of the fre and results from laboratory tests especially carried out in this research. It was concluded that if proper fnishing and coating materials had been used, the fre could not have broken out and spread so fast. On the other hand, if adequate emergency exits exist probably the number of victims would not have been so high. Some advices for fre safe construction of these buildings and to the fre safety regulations are given in the paper. Keywords Nightclub · Fire · Smoke · Toxic gases · Coating and fnishing materials Abbreviations ABNT Brazilian Association of Technical Standards ASET Available Safe Egress Time NBR Brazilian Standard FCM Finishing and Coating Material FCMC Finishing and Coating Material Control HRR Heat Release Rate HRRPUA Heat Release Rate per unit area CO Carbon Monoxide FDS Fire Dynamics Simulator PU Polyurethane PET Polyethylene Terephthalate RSET Required Safe Egress Time (total evacuation time Introduction Kiss nightclub fire, outbreak on 27th January 2013, between 2:00 and 2:30 am, in the city of Santa Maria, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and killed 242 people and injured at least 630 others, according to CREA-RS report [1]. This was the second largest fre in Brazil, in terms of victims [2]. This fre showed the weakness of the fre safety management and organization system of Brazil and forced the revision of the state [3] and national [4] fre safety regulations and standards. Although, it was an abnormal fre, only a few researches have been carried out so far for scientifcally analyzing this case [5–9]. The deaths resulted from the smoke and toxic gases inhalation and difculty in evacuation by the occupants, overcrowd- ing of the nightclub and insufcient number of emergency exits. In Kiss nightclub fre, the pyrolysis of synthetic materi- als inside the building, produced toxic gases [1, 10]. The carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and cyanate of hydrogen released in the pyrolysis of certain materials are, in certain concentrations, lethal for the occupants [11]. The smoke could reach a speed of 2 m/s [12], while the occupants * Fabricio L. Bolina fabriciobolina@gmail.com 1 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Vale Do Rio Dos Sinos, UNISINOS, São Leopoldo, Brazil 2 Department of Civil Engineering, FCT, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal 3 CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal