Harvest Festival in a Sprinklered Mercantile Building
A 25,000-square-foot former grocery store, sprinklered and classified as mercantile, is proposed as a one-day harvest festival. The organizer expects 600 attendees at peak, with 120 vendor booths arranged in four rows, 4-foot aisles between booths, a temporary stage, and two cooking demonstrations using 20-pound propane cylinders. The building has a posted occupant load of 300. It has an 8-foot-wide main entrance/exit and two 36-inch side exits. To control ticket scanning, the organizer plans to rope off both side exits and use only the main entrance, with a queuing area inside the front doors. Decorations include hay bales, cornstalks, and untreated fabric drapes around the stage. The fire code official is asked to approve the event plan and set conditions. The building’s sprinkler and alarm systems are operational, but the alarm panel is monitored only during business hours.
1. Determine the occupancy classification and occupant load for the event, and explain how the posted load of 300 affects the review.
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The posted mercantile load of 300 cannot be used for this arrangement. The event is an assembly use, and the load must be computed from the actual layout: vendor booths, stage, queuing, and seating. For a first check, 600 occupants at 0.2 inch per person requires 120 inches of exit width. The main 8-foot exit provides 96 inches; the two 36-inch side exits provide 72 inches. Total width is adequate only if all three exits are usable. The posted 300 load means the organizer is already planning to double the approved occupant load, which triggers a new egress analysis, not a one-day waiver. I would require a dimensioned booth layout and a revised occupant-load calculation before discussing approval.
2. Evaluate the egress plan if the side exits are roped off and a queue is placed inside the main doors. What corrections are necessary?
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Roping off the side exits reduces egress capacity to 96 inches, which is less than the 120 inches required for 600 people. It also creates a single-exit dependency and a queuing area that obstructs the main exit access. The side exits must remain available, illuminated and marked, with panic hardware and clear paths. Four-foot aisles between booths may be acceptable only if they are exit access aisles, not dead-end merchandising aisles; the four rows must not create a maze. The stage and drapes must not block exits. I would approve only with a revised layout that keeps all exits open, removes the inside queue or protects it with stanchions that do not obstruct, and posts the approved load at 600 only after the egress calculation supports it.
3. What conditions would you impose for the propane cooking demonstrations and the decorations, and what would cause you to deny the event?
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The cooking demonstrations and decorations need separate conditions. Indoor use of 20-pound propane cylinders for open-flame cooking is not a routine approval; I would require a hazardous-operations permit, a location away from exits and combustibles, fixed extinguishing or standpipe access, and a trained attendant. If the code official determines indoor LP-gas cooking is prohibited, the demonstration must move outdoors or use an approved appliance. Hay, cornstalks and untreated fabric must be flame-retardant or removed; hay bales are especially difficult to treat. The alarm panel must be monitored for the event, not only during business hours. Approval should be conditioned on these items, with a pre-event inspection; otherwise the event plan should be denied.