Safety And Security Planning For Large-Scale Music Festivals In Southern California
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - After a crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival in Houston on Friday killed eight people and injured "scores of individuals," many people are wondering just how safe concertgoers in California are at large-scale music festivals.
"These large music festivals are very dynamic events. There's a lot of work that goes into the preplanning, in the incident action plan and the public safety plan, providing for the eventualities that may occur," Deputy Fire Marshal for Riverside County, Kenneth King, said.
King and Deputy Chief Robert Fish help festival organizers put together and carry out public safety and incident action plans for the hugely popular Stagecoach and Coachella music festivals.
"We have a lot of practice at this. So, we have improved processes and improved planning processes," Deputy Fish said.
The Riverside County events draw anywhere from the tens of thousands to more than a quarter million people. So, contingency planning is critical.
The Astroworld music festival in Houston saw crowds of about 50,000 people. On Friday, not long after rapper Travis Scott began performing, people started getting crushed and trampled as the crowd pushed toward the stage.
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Eight people died and many, many more were injured. Nearly a dozen people went into cardiac arrest.
Fire officials in Southern California said it's critical to prepare for everything when the crowds are this large.
"Part of the public safety plan involves an analysis of the event and venue. That's where we look at the event details to determine what the staffing levels should be and what we're going to have on site for fire department, emergency medical and other resources," King said.
Even with first responders already on site, the deputy fire marshal said the audience should also think of what to do if problems come up.
"We want to encourage all the patrons to have their own plan when they attend these events," King said. "Know where the exits are. Know where you're at, at all times and have a plan in place in case something happens during one of these events."
The planning doesn't just stop there either.
Festival organizers must also create security plans with law enforcement, planning for the worst while hoping for the best.