It's been nearly 19 months since inspectors from the Nashville Fire Marshal's office conducted safety inspections at many of Nashville's famous bars.

Music City, unlike many other large municipalities, is not currently inspecting bars and night clubs on an annual basis or during unannounced visits. That means Lower Broadway's dozens of honky-tonks, which have multiplied and expanded to serve some of the record 14.5 million visitors a year, can go long stretches without a fire marshal inspection.

Department officials said they do not have enough staff to visit these businesses regularly amid Nashville's real estate growth, and periodic inspections are not mandated by city code. They are required to inspect businesses after construction work, and short-term rentals — both of which have inundated inspectors.

The one inspector assigned to downtown barely has time to confirm construction work meets codes — that a new roof deck, for instance, has clear exit paths — and respond to any complaints, said Nashville Fire Marshal Al Thomas. Inspectors work overtime to check for overcrowding during the city’s largest events, such as CMA Fest and the Music City July 4th celebration.

High rises, multi-family apartment buildings and night clubs are all considered a high-risk priority, Thomas said, but, “We don’t have the staff to do all the priority inspections.”

What they found

In April 2017, during the last sweep of bars and nightclubs, the Fire Marshal's office found 33 violations at 22 venues on "Lower Broad," the stretch between 1st and 5th avenues. Typical violations at nightclubs are for blocked egress, or exit signs not illuminated, said Thomas.

Businesses do have to submit annual reports documenting working fire alarms and sprinklers. Otherwise, the Fire Marshal relies on complaints to spot problems.

Seven inspectors patrol geographic zones of the county, and three monitor schools, health care and day care facilities. Moving another inspector downtown, Thomas said, would require pulling someone from another area.

Thomas requested three additional inspectors for this year's budget, but they weren't approved.The Fire Department's budget was cut slightly for fiscal 2018-2019 as Mayor David Briley dealt with a citywide revenue shortfall. For the next fiscal year, beginning in July 2019, Thomas hopes to add six inspectors.

'Lower Broad' buildings have safety risks

The concentration of crowds, alcohol and old buildings make Lower Broadway an area of concern, Thomas said. Overcrowding and blocked exits are the biggest problems, he said; operators often store supplies by doorways.

Over the decades, some buildings on Lower Broadway buildings have had fires. A smoker caused a kitchen blaze at Merchants Restaurant this May. In 1978, when Broadway was more seedy, a projector caught fire at the adult film house Jolar Cinema, causing a two-alarm response. And a decade before that, two buildings housing a furniture company and the "Auto Cleanup Center" both caught fire in the summer of 1968.

Many of the bars were built around the turn of the 20th century, and some aren't up to modern fire codes, Thomas said. When a building undergoes a significant renovation, it must comply with the latest standards, but some haven't been remodeled for years. They may have a higher occupancy limit under the old code, for instance, than allowed today based on the number of exits. New standards might require that exit pathways fit more people or that doors are larger.

The relatively new phenomenon of rooftop decks has added other safety risks. For example, the department has received complaints about portable propane heaters, which are generally prohibited.

Before 2015, Lower Broadway had five barsor restaurants with rooftop bars, according to the Nashville Downtown Partnership. Today, there are 16. The growth parallels Music City’s booming tourism industry, which in 2017 set records for the number of rooms sold and tourism tax collected.

More:Roof collapse shuts down popular Lower Broadway bar and restaurant Acme Feed and Seed

'Very common' for regular inspections across the U.S.

In Austin, Texas, another growing city with a thriving bar and music scene, the fire marshal consistently checks for safety compliance. Bars and night clubs have to apply for public assembly permits, which include annual fire safety inspections. An inspector will make sure occupancy placards are displayed, that no extension cords are being used permanently, and will look for other basic safety issues.

Austin has also seen growth in the number of outdoor dining and drinking spaces, Austin Fire Marshal Rob Vires said. Inspectors have to constantly remind those businesses about how to properly use outdoor heaters because of restaurant staff turnover, he said.

The Austin Fire Department deploys three inspectors for unannounced walk-throughs of bars and night clubs. About once every three weeks they’ll canvas a “party district” at night, looking for overcrowding and making sure exits are clear, Vires said. If a bar is overcrowded they can issue a citation, empty the place, or in extreme cases, close the business.

“We need to make sure that if there was an emergency, folks would have the ability to get out in a timely fashion,” Vires said. “It’s not just cracking the whip; it’s education and enforcement.”

Regular unannounced inspections of night clubs and other places of assembly are “very common” for local fire departments throughout the U.S., said Jim Tidwell, a Texas-based fire protection consultant.

But government workers in booming cities like Nashville are sometimes stretched thin. Denver, too, has had to curtail its night club inspections, said Jeremy Vigil, assistant chief at the Denver Fire Department. That city’s construction boom led to inspectors working overtime, so the department had to scale back the night club program. Also, Vigil said night clubs typically were complying with the codes, so they weren’t as much of priority.

Metro once had an inspection task force

In the mid-2000s, Metro Nashville beefed up its inspections after a fire in an overcrowded Rhode Island night club killed 100 people and injured more than 200. There was talk of instituting a formal policy of unannounced safety inspections. But the task force, which included the Codes Department and others, ended amid opposition from businesses, said Barrett Hobbs, the chairman of the downtown District Merchant’s Association and operator of three bars on Lower Broadway.

“We don’t operate any less safely now than we did when the task force was coming through,” Hobbs said.

Hobbs agreed that the Fire Marshal’s office needed more inspectors, but he said there is enough safety regulation in place on Lower Broadway. Inspectors come during the major city events and once emptied out a bar because of overcrowding, he said.

During the last sweep of bars and nightclubs in April 2017, the Fire Marshal's office canvassed 157 locations around the county, 22 of them Lower Broadway.

More:Nashville party vehicles fall into regulatory loophole, with no local oversight

Business owners say good operators will self-police their occupancy and comply with other fire safety laws.

“We have a lot at stake not to violate occupancy rules,” said Tom Morales, owner of ACME Feed & Seed. “Over-capacity means people can’t purchase, people can’t move. For us, the customer experience is much more important.”

Last month a portion of the rooftop deck at ACME collapsed. Morales said an insurance report blamed the "engineering design and contractor construction error." Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Metro Codes and Fire Department inspectors signed off on ACME's finished construction in 2014, before it opened, and the Codes Department will conduct another inspection of the deck once repairs are complete. The Fire Marshal's office, however, will not re-inspect the deck.

Reach Mike Reicher at mreicher@tennessean.com or 615-259-8228 and on Twitter @mreicher.

Fire / Life Safety Inspection Checklist

Here's a sample of items checked during a safety inspection.

All exit doors unlocked during business hours

No exits, aisles, corridors or stairways obstructed

All exit doors and hardware operates properly

All lighted exit signs and emergency lighting operate properly

Employees are trained in fire safety and evacuation plans at orientation, then annually

All areas free from combustible waste material creating a fire hazard

Flammable liquids stored away from exits, aisles, corridors or stairways

Sprinkler heads unobstructed, 18 inches free clearance

Fire alarms inspected, tested and maintained

Smoke detectors are in proper locations and tested periodically

Fire lanes provide access and are not obstructed

Fire extinguishers available, visible and unobstructed

Electrical cords kept in good condition (No broken or frayed cords used)

Electric panels and outlets in good condition, no wiring exposed, have covers in place

Source: Tennessee Department of Treasury