The spread of a fire in the Stardust nightclub, which resulted in the deaths of 48 people in 1981, would have been “much slower” if polyester carpet-tiles had not lined the venue’s internal walls, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday.
Dr Will Hutchinson, forensic scientist and fire investigator, said the blaze’s rapid spread was also aided by the low height of the ceiling, which was below the minimum allowed, at the back of the tiered seating where the fire was first seen inside the venue.
Giving evidence on day 103 of fresh inquests into the deaths of the 48 people, aged 16 to 27, as a result of the fire in the early hours of February 14th, 1981, Dr Hutchison said the polyurethane foam in the seats in the area known as the west alcove was flammable and would “burn rapidly”.
Mark Tottenham, for the coroner, noted tests conducted in 1981 at the Fire Research Service at Borehamwood near London showed a flame on an isolated seat of the kind used in the Stardust tended to “burn itself out”. A flame on a seat proximate to a wall lined with carpet tiles used in the Stardust, however, accelerated and increased.
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“If there had been no carpet tiles the fire would be less likely to spread to other surrounding areas?” asked Mr Tottenham.
“That is correct . . . If the seats were in contact with some neighbouring seats it would still spread across but the point is the rate of that spread would have been much slower than what was observed with the interaction of the wall tiles,” said Dr Hutchinson.
The foam in the seats would “burn rapidly” and produce “a lot of thick black smoke”, he continued, and gases produced would have been “flammable”. He said these gases “may not ignite immediately but they’ll form this hot gas layer and once the temperature does get hot enough that layer can self-ignite”.
The hot gas layer, once it hit the low ceiling, would have started building downwards.
“The more gas that you have, the gas layer starts moving downwards so it is getting closer and closer to more flammable material that’s on the floor beneath it,” said the witness.
Other seats within the alcove, as they heated up, would begin to release flammable gases and, as temperatures increased, would have ignited also, said Dr Hutchison.
“So, the low ceiling height combined with build-up of gases, the gases then igniting effectively causes something like a furnace where it’s so hot that the seats simply burst into flame without a flame [touching them]?” asked Mr Tottenham.
“Correct. This particular fire started at the top of one of the alcoves, close to the ceiling. That means that this process is much faster,” said the witness.
He said attempts to contain the fire with fire extinguishers spread it further as the polyurethane foam melted into pools of flaming liquid.
“So, by squirting water at it you are effectively, unfortunately, moving it across and that is what is shifting the fire across,” said Dr Hutchinson.
Asked about numerous witness accounts of burning, molten droplets falling from the ceiling and starting small fires on furniture, the floor and people, he said this could have been as a result of rigid polystyrene grilles, responsible for extracting air, “melting, igniting and forming flaming droplets”, or PVC from flexible ducts connected to the metal grilles in the ceiling, melting.
Dr Hutchinson reiterated he could not determine exactly where the fire started but narrowed it down to a hot press in the main bar adjacent to the west alcove, a small fire immediately above the west alcove, or on or beneath a seat in the alcove.
If it started in the hot press it was “most likely” as a result of a resistive fault due to a bad connection on the top immersion heater causing localised heating, which could have ignited the plastic-covered lagging jacket, he said. The fire could then have spread over into the west alcove.
The witness could offer no scientific explanation for a fire starting in the area in the ceiling void above the alcove. In relation to it starting near or on seat in the alcove, “some human intervention”, whether deliberate or accidental, would have to have been involved. No evidence was found in 1981 of either.
“Certainly on the basis of scientific analysis it’s not possible to determine whether it was deliberate or accidental [if it started in the alcove]?” asked Mr Tottenham.
“Correct.”
The inquests continue.
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