The chief of the Santo Domingo Fire Department told Hoy reporters that 90% of the buildings in the city lack fire escapes or other emergency exits. Garcia pointed out that the majority of the apartment buildings do have service entrances but do not have emergency or fire escapes.
News reports today carry the story of two women who jumped from the balconies of a third story apartment that had caught fire, because they could find no other alternative. The women suffered vertebrae and leg breakages.
Furthermore, Oscar Guillermo Garcia told reporters from Hoy that a study of 30 discotheques in Santo Domingo revealed the fact that only 15% fulfilled the minimum safety requirements. Fire extinguishers were notoriously absent from the businesses. Garcia laid out these realities before a commission of the municipal council and the Fire Department where he also proposed a set of regulations that would affect such enclosed public places.
Another glaring fault that was found during the disco-survey, was that most of the establishments have doors that open inwards, rather than outwards. According to the proposal that will go before the full municipal council, owners of public establishments will be given from six months to one year to fulfill certain, minimal, safety requirements, and upon fulfillment, they will receive certification from the Fire Department.