The pyrotechnics continue until the fateful moment when the sparks hit a curtain and an actual fire begins. This is the point where both Speedle and Delko snap into cop mode. DJ Scorpius gradually notices the conflagration behind him. Speedle manages to grab Delko in the crowd, and he says, "This place doesn't have sprinklers." Delko advises that they hit the fire alarm.

Alarms are hit, flames are growing, crowds are panicking. Speedle proves that he has been taking notes on Horatio as he immediately orders, "Everybody stay calm. There's an exit over here." Well, Speedle's got a little work to do, since unlike Horatio's edicts -- which apparently override the free-will portion of the brain and compel the subjects to do whatever he wants -- Speedle's entreaty is for naught, as people would rather run around and panic instead of actually exiting the club. Delko finds the cell phone in his pocket and calls in the fire at Club Descent. Speedle manages to lead a small group to the exit, only to discover that it's chained. Locked? They should have called this place Club Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Delko's actually looking for his bachelorette-party hookup.

Just then Ben (sigh) Browder rushes to the front of the club with a fire extinguisher and begins hosing the flames. Ben, we love you -- especially in the all-black ensemble -- but the hair...did you leave your barber on Moya? Ben (sigh) Browder exposits that there's only the one fire extinguisher, it's not going to be enough, and Delko should scram. Delko takes this as a cue to continue looking for Connie. They find her, although she's making life difficult by not coming along. Speedle finds an unlocked door and stumbles outside with one of the hot party-loving girls from three minutes ago. She's a little upset that her friend is still inside. So Speedle -- whose white shirt is pristine, by the way -- goes back toward the danger.

Once inside, he directs more people to the door. We see them stumbling out of the smoky area. This makes me wonder: why on Earth does nobody remember their childhood fire training? I'm not talking about the stop-drop-and-roll stuff, but the whole "in case of a fire, drop to the floor where the cleaner air is and crawl out" thing. I doubt anyone's going to do that in a room full of panicky people -- the benefits of breathing fresh air tend to be cancelled out by the drawbacks of being trampled -- but if people all automatically dropped to their knees, we'd have fewer people stumbling around sucking in lungfuls of smoke. Anyway, we see Ben (sigh) Browder carrying an incapacitated woman out and laying her on the ground.