05/28/2026
Shively Fire and Rescue would like to pause on this day a little bit of sad Kentucky fire history. As a fire department and fire code officials we would be remiss in our duties in remembering.
On the night of May 28, 1977, a massive fire destroyed the Beverly Hills Supper Club, a lavish nightclub in Southgate, Kentucky, killing 165 and injuring more than 200. The disaster still ranks as the third deadliest nightclub fire in the United States.
The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire killed 165 and over 200 were injured in Southgate, KY which was 6 miles outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Built in 1937 and modified several times by 1976, the building created a sprawling complex spanning several acreas.
Around 3,000 patrons and 182 employees were inside the club when the fire erupted in the front of the club. Two minutes after a warning, the fire burst into the corridor and exploded into the Cabaret Room with a fireball… “On the evening of May 28,1977 the facility was at full capacity and overflowing with people, some estimated as many as 3,000 people were in the facility. Many people were in attendance to see entertainer John Davidson. In other sections of the facility there were private parties taking areas.
In one area there was a private awards banquet with around 450 people in attendance. With such overcrowding, additional seating was required and this took place in the isles, ramps and in doorways throughout the facility…There had been a wedding reception in the Zebra room that ended around 8:30 p.m. and some of the guests reported that the room was becoming overheated, but no one reported a smell of smoke or seeing anything. Two employees entered the Zebra room around 8:56 to find heavy smoke at the ceiling level.
The fire department was notified at 9:01 and the management attempted to use fire extinguishers to contain the fire but was unable to control it. The fire department arrived on the scene within three minutes of the call. Access to the building was limited. The long uphill single lane driveway to the business was packed with patron vehicles as the parking lot was overflowing. This factor alone hampered efforts to get units to the scene as well as making for extremely long hose lays for water supply.
The fire continued to spread to other parts of the building, and by 9:10 the fire had extended to the Cabaret room where John Davidson was performing. This room had an occupancy load of 615 to 756 but on this evening the estimates were at 1300, although in future reports it is stated that there were between 900 to 1000 people in the Cabaret Room…There were no reports of the exit doors being locked, however, a Fort Thomas firefighter was quoted as saying, “When I got to the inside doors, which is about 30 feet inside the building, I saw these big double doors, and people were stacked like cord wood. They were clear up to the top. They just kept diving out on each other trying to get out. I looked back over the pile and it wasn’t dead people, there were dead and alive in that pile and I went in and just started to grab them two at the time and pull them off the stack and drag them out…”
Other issues that contributed to a large loss of life in this fire can also be found in other fires throughout history. There were 16.5 exits and Kentucky law required that there be 27.5 exits for the occupant load. The wiring was considered inadequate and would have never passed inspection. Firewalls did not exist in the building to prevent the spread of fire. A sprinkler system or an audible fire alarm was non-existent. Reports are that the fire department was not authorized to enforce the building codes.”
