RICK CALLAHAN
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS —
An Indiana commission has approved the state’s first rules governing the type of temporary stage rigging involved in last summer’s deadly state fair stage collapse.
Members of the Indiana Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission voted unanimously this morning in favor of the regulations that board chairman David Hannum says will take effect Thursday.
The rules require many events to have engineer-approved plans for their rigging systems along with emergency plans. Smaller fairs and festivals would be exempt from most of the regulations if they create a buffer zone around their stages that extends, 8 feet beyond the height of the rigging to protect fans in case of a collapse.
Legislators directed the commission to adopt rules following the state fair collapse that killed seven people.
