The Fire Control System at the San Martin Theater Are "Obsolete"
<p>A report by the Audit of the City of Buenos Aires says the system is in very poor condition and there is no guarantee it will work upon a disaster. Irregularities were also detected in other theaters in the city: lack of fire extinguishers and exit signs, no fireproof curtains, alarms that don’t work and emergency lights were down.</p>
According to the Auditor General of the City of Buenos Aires (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish), the fire system of the San Martin Theater is in "very bad shape" and there are no guarantees it will work against any emergency. The facilities are part of the original construction of the building in Corrientes Avenue, which were not modernized and, over time, became "obsolete." The Watchdog noted broken sprinkler pipes that run partially, water flow detectors out of service and that the stairs are missing fasteners that will keep out smoke.
The AGCBA’s eport on what is known as Theatre Complex of Buenos Aires that, besides the San Martin where management is centralized, includes Alvear, Sarmiento, Regio and Ribera theaters, and found that eight out of ten emergency lights were out of service because of lack of batteries. Moreover, in some rooms there was no signage of escape routes, fire alarms were not working and, in turn, did not have a required number of fire extinguishers. It was also found that the fireproof curtains and production materials was not applied in all auditoriums.
In the basement of St. Martin, meanwhile, the Watchdog found Asbestos, a "harmful material to health" similar to asbestos, located near Martin Coronado and Casacubierta rooms, with machinery, utilities and equipment maintenance. Coating should begin in the first half of 2007, but at the end of report the AGCBA conducted in 2008, it still had not started. The Theater Complex has a staff of firefighters; however, it does not have sufficient human resources, uniforms or safety elements.
