Fairground Grandstand Is Fire Trap, Oct. 19, 1923

Says Grandstand Is a Horrible Fire Trap. . . Fire in Exhibition Hall Below Would Leave Hundreds Helplessly Entrapped Above

The grand stand at the Elizabeth City fair grounds is a fire trap of the first order and should be condemned as such, is the opinion of B.T. Widgeon, president of the Ocean View Racing & Fair Association.

Mr. Wigeon came out to Elizabeth City last week to see how Elizabeth City puts on a fair and he was astonished when he discovered that our folks had built a grand stand seating more than 1,500 people and have provided only one exit from that grand stand. In event of a fire in the exhibition hall below the grand stand, hundreds of people would be trapped in the grand stand above, unable to make their escape before the whole flimsy structure was in flames.

Mr. Widgeon has built a grand stand on his own fair gorunds that is a pattern of the best in the country, having 11 ample exits. Mr. Wigeon was done here to criticize our folks, but having inspected a number of the best grand stands in the country before building his own, he was quick to see where somebody had made a terrible mistake in the grand stand on our fair grounds.

Here then is a suggestion for the Chief of the Elizabeth City Fire department and the Directors of the Albemarle Agricultural Association. The grand stand on the Elizabeth City fair grounds is not safe.

From the front page of The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Friday, October 19, 1923