Fire marshal visit prompts cancellation of Sacred Heart haunted house - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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2014-10-29

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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation  |  Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Emergency services Computer crash hit Tuesday paper, website Medford Schools Foundation supports programs the district can't Local gas prices lowest in years Fire marshal visit prompts cancellation of Sacred Heart haunted house Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services Fire marshal visit prompts cancellation of Sacred Heart haunted house Two injured in Hayes Hill crash OSP finds 68 pounds of marijuana in car during traffic stop Emergency services Politics and Elections Local gas prices lowest in years Ads attack Dotterrer and Bates Oregonians not in party mood Sign wars rage again in Phoenix Democratic contender not conceding victory to Walden Education Medford Schools Foundation supports programs the district can't Fire marshal visit prompts cancellation of Sacred Heart haunted house Kids Unlimited Academy awarded $450,000 grant County helps fund RCC job training SOU student says free speech issue overblown Environment Local gas prices lowest in years Where do all those leaves go? 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Sacred Heart Catholic School Principal Patrick Gross said the school decided to cancel its annual haunted house after a fire marshal's inspection found safety problems during a visit Friday. The event was scheduled to run 6-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. "We did, like several organizations, receive a visit from the fire marshal, who expressed some concerns about the way things were set up," Gross said Friday. "The changes we would need to make weren't feasible in the time we had, so we decided to cancel the event for the year." Fire Marshal Greg Kleinberg said one of the big issues with the Sacred Heart haunted house setup was one inspectors had encountered several times in the past few years. "Hanging plastic that's very flammable — it was hung throughout the gym," he said. "The fire code prohibits the use of untreated combustible materials." Kleinberg said the mazes popular in many haunted houses also pose problems with fire-code compliance.  "If you're going to build a maze-type of setup, you have to have an exit every 50 feet," he said. Kleinberg said it's fairly uncommon for seasonal events to have safety issues so severe that they have to be dealt with immediately or shut down, but inspectors have recently had a number of problems with haunted houses specifically. "Mainly because people didn't come in and talk to us ahead of time," he said. "A lot of these issues could have been prevented." Among fire inspectors' biggest concerns is that a fire will break out in a confined space with a large number of occupants and no means of escape. "That would be the absolute worst situation," Kleinberg said. Gross, who took over as the school's principal in August, said he didn't know exactly how long the school had been holding the haunted house but that it's a longstanding tradition. "We're going to revisit the event," Gross said. "We will certainly (find a solution) — we want all our events to be safe." Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 28, 2014 @ 4:51 pm » Comment or view comments   Reader Reaction »  STAY INFORMED   Email NewsLetter   Sign Up Today   Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed   Email newsletter   Sign Up Today   Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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