When Chicago’s smoking ban went into effect on Jan. 16, puffing away was prohibited at most public places, including sports arenas, restaurants, bowling alleys and even ‘L’ platforms. Taverns and restaurants with bars do not have to comply until 2008.

However, one popular nightspot has already jumped the gun. Big Chicks, the Uptown bar that has been a longtime haven for its many patrons, went the smoke-free route on Monday as well. (However, smokers will still be able to congregate on the patio or out in front of the establishment.)

Although Big Chicks is a popular spot, non-smokers have complained about the amount of smoke in the bar. Recently, bar owner Michelle Fire received e-mails from friends and other patrons who cited everything from health to economic reasons in an effort to urge her to prohibit smoking. In fact, one e-mailer asked others to send similar messages to her in an electronic ‘Put Out the Fire’ campaign. The e-mail sender wrote in a missive dated Jan. 5 that barring smoking ‘is no longer a radical idea, but one whose day has come across the country and around the world.’ (Fire also owns Tweet, a restaurant next door to Big Chicks that has enforced a non-smoking policy since it opened its doors in 2003.)

Fire heard the non-smokers’ pleas. In an e-mail dated Jan. 13, she announced that Big Chicks would be smoke-free in three days. However, she indicated that it was more than her friends’ exhortations that spurred her to action. ‘I am crying as I write this because I know too well [the] lure of smoking, from watching my mother die from smoking [to] caring for my best friend every day right now who is dying [of] emphysema,’ she stated. ‘I am trying to ‘[d]o the right thing.” She conceded that she had been hearing about smoke for some time: ‘[It] has always been a subject of conversation, regardless of the number of smoke-eaters, exhaust systems [and] air-intake systems.’ However, she also mentioned a past attempt to make at least part of the tavern smokeless: ‘When the Salon [a part of the bar] opened 12 years ago, we attempted to make that room smoke-free [but] the logistics were too difficult and it was not a workable idea.’ On the eve of the smoking ban, Fire enthusiastically told Windy City Times about how proud she was of the development. ‘Big Chicks is the first gay bar going totally smoke-free [and] we’re doing it two years ahead of schedule,’ she said. [Editor’s note: Minibar, a new bar on Halsted, opened as a smoke-free bar several months ago, but Big Chicks is the first gay bar to convert from smoking to non-smoking.] ‘I put it to the people. I sent [the issue] out to people on our e-mail list and asked for their feedback, so this was a collaborative effort involving Big Chickers and everyone.’ However, when asked about possible economic concerns, Fire seemed a bit more apprehensive. ‘I have no idea what’s [going to happen]. I am, of course, very fearful about [the negative ramifications] because I think the entire city should’ve gone smoke-free all at once. So, I’m going out on a limb because I’m the only one doing it, but I had to do it because it was the right moral decision.’ Fire also mentioned that Sunday was going to involve a last blast: ‘So far today, I’ve been passing out free cigarettes and we’ve been laughing hysterically. I’ve been telling everyone to smoke their lungs out today. Plus, we’re letting everyone steal an ashtray tonight.’