Complaints rise about entering, exiting local businesses

Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services Chief Scott Lewis addressed concerns from members of the community regarding restricted access to area retailers in town amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

At present, Walmart and other ‘Big Box’ stores in Pahrump have implemented guidelines on how many customers can shop in the store at any given time, as well as limiting access when entering and exiting the business.

“I want to remind the public about it, because there is some confusion,” Lewis said. “We received unsigned letters with no contact information and it complains about the retailers in Pahrump because they can’t get access to all of the doorways at the front of the building. With COVID-19, there are restrictions in place for occupancy in commercial structures, and they can control those doorways to allow effective access to the store.”

Additionally, Lewis went on to say that the businesses cannot actually lock you into the building.

“They can stop you from going in through all of the doors, but they can’t prevent you from exiting all of the emergency exit doors,” he noted. “Most of the box stores have breakaway front doors, so you can easily get out from the inside, because when you put pressure on them, they just open up and that meets the fire code. Your inability to get in from the outside can be restricted, however, there are some misunderstandings that simply because they can’t get inside the door, that is breaking the fire code, but that’s not true because we have tools that would take care of that. We just want to get that information out.”

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes