What happened at the Stardust nightclub, Dublin on Valentine’s Day 1981?

In the early hours of 14 February 1981 a fire broke out in Dublin’s Stardust nightclub - the flames quickly spread.

There were around 840 people in the nightclub at the time of the incident. Firefighters battled to open the locked doors to free people and quench the flames.

How did the Stardust nightclub fire start?

At the time the fire was believed to have been caused by arson, but this was later ruled out due to lack of evidence. It is possible the fire began due to an electrical fault.

It’s believed that the fire broke out in an empty seated area. Flames rose across the ceiling and ignited plastic chairs from intense heat, spreading across the dance floor as the room temperature increased until flashover occurred - this is believed to have happened in less than two minutes.

Flames then broke through the roof causing the ceiling to collapse and the electricity to cut off. People were trapped in intense heat and smoke and a fresh intake of air fuelled the fire further.

What can the industry learn from the Stardust nightclub fire?

An inquest into the fire concluded the fire had probably been started by arson, but there was no evidence to support it. The inquest had not considered a storeroom near the projection room which contained vast quantities of flammable and combustible products, some of which had a low flammability limit which could ignite when the room/ambient temperature was raised, causing auto ignition.

In 2009, the families of victims succeeded in getting the flawed tribunal verdict of probable arson overturned, however they were disappointed that the Government did not agree to reinvestigate the cause.