Padlocked exits. Malfunctioning alarm systems. Exposed wires.
Those are just a few of the hundreds of fire code violations documented at Arizona stadiums, arenas, and music venues over the past four years.
Since last summer, the ABC15 Investigators have looked at fire code compliance inspections for State Farm Stadium and Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale; Chase Field, Footprint Center, Arizona Financial Theatre, and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix; and Sun Devil Stadium and Desert Financial Arena at Arizona State University in Tempe.
The frequency of inspections depends on the venue and the fire agency doing the checking.
Inspections can be as often as before every public event or as infrequently as once every three years.
“It's their way of protecting the public,” said William Koffel, president of Koffel Associates, Inc., a fire protection and life safety consulting firm.
Reading through thousands of pages of reports, some dating back to 2018, the ABC15 Investigators found Desert Financial Arena had the most dramatic documented situation.
A police aide smelled burning plastic and pulled the fire alarm during a graduation event, triggering an unnecessary evacuation. There was no fire. Afterward, ASU changed its procedures to ensure no one person could trigger the alarm during subsequent events.
“In this day and age, you have to be cautious about everything,” said Sheila Uggetti before she entered the arena to watch a basketball game last week.
ASU's own fire inspectors check Sun Devil Stadium and Desert Financial Arena. They passed inspection more than 80% of the time, and when they did fail, the violations report documented steps to remedy the problems.
“There is that connection that ‘I can go to your boss, who happens to be my boss, if you're not doing it right,’” Koffel said to explain why ASU facilities may have performed better than some other Valley venues.
An ASU spokesperson emailed this statement about the inspections:
"ASU’s Fire Safety and Prevention Office conducts thorough, stringent inspections regularly on all university facilities to ensure fire safety code compliance and the safety of the university community, guests and visitors. This office also maintains the university’s Fire Prevention and Safety Plan to protect employees, students, and guests from fire and safety hazards, and comply with safety requirements outlined in the Arizona Administrative Code and the Occupational Safety and Health Act—which cover nationally recognized codes and standards. There have been no significant fire and safety events inside Sun Devil Stadium to date."
Some other Valley venues did not meet dozens of fire prevention and life safety requirements.
The highest number of violations, which ABC15 saw in the reports, was at Chase Field on Oct. 12, 2021. One inspector documented 71 fire code problems.
A ballpark spokesperson said that report was issued on the first day the facility was ever inspected by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
“That's not good,” said sports fan Amy Thomas.
The most glaring problems inspectors found in multiple walkthroughs of Chase Field were locked exits or blocked paths that could hinder emergency egress.
“But there are also hardware solutions to some of those that we don't have to be putting deadbolts on these doors,” Koffel said.
Chase Field also had repeated violations for cooking hoods, which contain fire suppression systems. One hadn't been serviced since 2015.
“Unfortunately, that's a fairly common fire scenario in assembly occupancies and restaurants,” Koffel said. “I think it's pretty important to make sure that: 1) the suppression system is in proper operating condition, and 2) that the hooded duct system has been properly cleaned.”
There was evidence of a small fire inside one ballpark kitchen. Overall, Chase failed 65% of inspections reviewed by ABC15.
“The purpose of these inspections is to bring in highly trained professionals who have decades of experience to help us identify any potential issues,” a Chase Field spokesperson said in an email this week. “We welcome these inspections and share the same priority as the Office of the Fire Marshal to ensure public safety.”
Chase Field also told ABC15 that 70 of the 71 violations in the October 2021 report have been corrected. The facility is also working with food vendors to ensure cooking hoods will be ready to pass inspection as they prepare for this baseball season.
ABC15’s reporting on fire prevention and life safety lapses started with State Farm Stadium last September.
Among ABC15's findings was a red-tagged, non-compliant alarm system that repeatedly had trouble codes. The marshal's office finally called it an "imminent hazard" last August and demanded repair within 48 hours.
"If it's something significant, then we address it. We're not going to walk away from that," Fire Marshal Cassie Peters said.
This fall, State Farm Stadium hired its own fire/life safety specialist to help with compliance, and state inspection reports now show the stadium, which is hosting Super Bowl LVII, is often fixing violations within the 10 days correction period allotted by the state.
“There are always opportunities for improvement, and you have to look at it that way because you're talking about safety,” State Farm Stadium General Manager Andy Gorchov said in September.
Other stadiums also had repeated problems, like Desert Diamond Arena, the former home of the Arizona Coyotes.
Glendale inspectors noted "fire alarm panel in trouble” and that the issue was due to “bad design" on many reports shared with ABC15.
When asked about the repeated violation, Glendale Fire Marshal Chris Jenkins told ABC15 it is “expected and acceptable.”
“The system cannot be programmed for ‘event-mode,’ and as such, requires the fire inspector to verify each disabled/silenced fire alarm device,” said Jenkins in a written statement. “Alternatively, a ‘good-design,’ would recognize disabled or silenced devices via internal programming as part of an event-mode setting.”
Jenkins explained the event-mode feature was not available when the arena was built, and the alarm system is not considered defective.
Even when Valley venues have multiple repeated fire code violations, inspectors don’t bar them from occupancy and enforcement actions like fines are rarely, if ever, used.
Koffel explains these are often “political decisions” after an assessment of “what's the risk involved with this violation versus the cost [and] the disruption to correct that issue.”
The Phoenix Fire Department, which inspects the Footprint Center and Arizona Financial Theatre doesn't do the most frequent inspections but is the most insistent on follow-up. Phoenix’s violation reports warn on the front page that compliance is required within 90 days, and if it's not achieved, violations will apply. Facility managers could be subject to fines or even misdemeanor criminal charges. Phoenix also re-inspects to ensure repairs are done.
