In the wake of last night's fatal fire at a Rhode Island nightclub and a stampede earlier this week at a Chicago venue, safety measures at clubs nationwide will likely be reevaluated. What measures should be taken in Boston to ensure the safety of its nightspots? What lessons can be learned -- by venue owners and concertgoers alike -- in terms of safety at clubs? .

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My heart goes out to the families affected by this awful tragedy. There are three guilty parties in this horrific, unnecessary event: 1. The Fire Inspection Chief in Warwick, R.I. What kind of establishment passes an inspection WITHOUT ceiling sprinklers installed? 2. The club owners - for not having the foresight to have the water sprinklers installed themselves, and/or for allowing "Great White" to use pyrotechnics - with or without permission. 3. "Great White" band members - for using pyrotechnics at all (especially without permission). If I were a parent/spouse/relative of a perished club goer, I'd be going afer all three with the best legal team I could afford. Such an unnecessary, irresponsible, and terrible loss of life.

Scotty, Newburyport

Most clubs and bars are in older buildings, and unfortunately the fire exits are not always obvious. I think that they should be marked more clearly and if possible, have the hallways and doorways widened to make it easier for people to pass through.

club goer, Mansfield, MA

Very sad and very preventable. Stupid owners, stupid band, tragic for the people who lost their lives having a good time.

CR, Boston

There should be a safety talk before each show like on airplanes that point out emergency exits. And indoor pyro should be banned in clubs smaller than 500 seats.

Mike, arlington

First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to everyone who has been affected by this tragedy. My heart truly goes out to you and your families. I think that sprinkler systems should be installed in all clubs, I say this because with patrons smoking and lighting cigarettes in crowded places, anything could happen. Also, there should be a minimum of two exits per 100 people and every exit should be well lit and highly visible--God Bless

Kevin, Hyde Park

I think in clubs like this where there are live bands, before the show starts, announcements should be make like on an airplane. The club should be sure to announce exit locations and that there may be an exit in the kitchen for example that people might not be able to see.

JH, Boston

It is not because of the size of the club as to why there were not sprinklers. It's because of the number of exits.

karen, boston

Lots of problems culminated in this tradgedy. Overcrowding, interior finish violations (foam acoustic padding) no emergency lighting, no sprinklers. Sprinklers should be mandatory in all nightclubs since the other requirements are much harder to enforce and subject to being broken on a day to day basis (locking doors, putting up flammable finishes, decorations, etc.) Combine this with a dark, crowded place where people are impaired with alcohol, this was disaster waiting to happen, pyrotechnics or not.

Ron, Boston

One thing that might help make nightclubs safer is to be sure to train club personnel such that they can assist in the event of an emergency. Most clubs provide big, burly men to provide "security", but they are mostly there to stop fights and prevent people from entering. If all personnel in a club; security, wait staff, bartenders, have some emergency training and an emergency plan, something similar to training flight crews have, perhaps more people can be directed to alternate exits preventing the tragic jams at the main entrances (obviously the alternate exits have to be accessible and unlocked from the inside).

Dave, Lexington

Like other people, I have also been to The Station many times over the years. I was VERY close to going last night, too, and considering where I usually stand and where most of the people who died were originally standing, I don't think I would have made it out, had I gone. Needless to say, it is a very humbling thought. I also can't believe there were pyrotechnics in there. None of the other bands I have seen have ever used pyrotechics there. For those that think the band should be locked away forever, though, GET REAL. Sure, the band is party at fault, but what about the club? They obviously saw the band setting up and should have said, "Hey! You can't light that stuff off in here!". So, if you want to play that game, at least spread the blame around. At least a valuable lesson will be learned from all of this, no matter how tragic it was. This has certainly struck a personal cord with me, and I will never fail to locate the emergency exits when seeing a show in the future.

Dave, Weymouth