Fire safety and overcrowding have been big issues in communities around the country in the wake of two deadly nightclub incidents, and Mercer County is no different.

The problem of overcrowding led to people at a Chicago nightclub being trampled, and the crowd made it nearly impossible to flee a burning nightclub in Rhode Island.

Most communities in Pennsylvania use the National Building Officials and Code Administrators code to regulate construction and fire safety in public and private buildings, local fire chiefs said.

Sharon Chief Arthur A. Scarmack Jr. said there are formulas to determine the occupancy of a building. The formula varies for each building because it depends on things like actual floor space, whether there are chairs on the floor and how the building is used.

Farrell Chief Joseph Santell said many municipalities also follow international fire codes. He said that when code officers go to inspect buildings they have the formula to determine what the occupancy should be.

Santell said the fire department has done random walk-throughs of public places to make sure the fire codes are being followed. A few times, Santell said, they found violations such as doors being locked that should have been open.

Scarmack said Sharon firefighters have done occasional walk-throughs of places but are going to conduct more random checks, in part because of recent events.

Several years ago, Scarmack said, he shut down a dance because "it was just an accident waiting to happen, as far as I'm concerned." Doors were chained shut and there were people smoking in the facility when they shouldn't have been, he said.

Santell said there are going to be more random checks in Farrell as well. He said he spoke to police about keeping an eye on certain places that draw crowds.

Jim Reda, Hermitage's assistant chief, said the department normally conducts inspections for things like occupancy if there's a complaint.

Reda said smaller municipalities don't always follow the international fire codes.

Hempfield Township Supervisor Gary Hittle said the township uses the codes set by the state Department of Labor and Industry for public places, which includes occupancy. He said the township does fire inspections, although there is no code for single-family residential dwellings.

Scarmack said it's very hard to monitor occupancy, especially in some buildings where there are numerous entrances and anyone can walk in. Besides events where a certain number of tickets are sold, there's really no way to keep a head count, he said.

Reda said that in Hermitage many of the restaurants have designated seating and clear paths through the aisles.

All fire chiefs said public buildings are inspected annually to make sure everything is up to code.