The Brownwood City Council received a special event request from Jeremiha Spencer to hold a Temporary Haunted House in the old Brownwood Bulletin Building located at 700 Carnegie. After reviewing the application and building layout it was found that the request was unable to meet the 2021 International Code Requirements and he would need to apply for a building and fire code waiver to hold the haunted house, which was approved the Council.

Spencer agreed to the following safeguard, opening the door for the Council to take action:

* An initial safety inspection is to be conducted by the Fire Marshal and Planning Development Department

* Provide 7 persons at all times to conduct a fire watch, these persons shall be stationed throughout the haunted house each with a fire extinguisher

* The appropriate number of exits, signage, and lighting

* One person who would oversee the interior lighting. That person would immediately turn on all the interior lights if a problem occurred

* Fire-safe construction materials

* No pyrotechnics or open flames.

“The existing fire code requires that amusements that attract large groups of people have a fire suppression and detection system,” said Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford. “Instead of requiring that, staff worked with the haunted house producer to make sure there were safety mechanisms in place – multiple fire extinguishers, clearly visible exits, no flammable materials – so the Council did approve that exemption to the fire code for that temporary attraction that will be taking place in the month of October.”

The haunted house is tentatively scheduled to open Friday, Oct. 13 and run through Tuesday, Oct. 31. More information on the haunted house will appear in the future at BrownwoodNews.com.