PROVIDENCE, R.I. ? CAV, a sophisticated eatery, for years added ambiance to its 19th century building with tabletop oil lamps, Christmas lights and antique rugs that dangled from the ceiling.

Those touches had passed fire inspections before, CAV’s owner says, but on Monday they were among the violations that led officials to shut down the restaurant.

Under orders from Gov. Don Carcieri, fire inspectors in Rhode Island are sweeping through hundreds of clubs and restaurants to check for particularly egregious violations after a nightclub fire killed 99 people and injured more than 180 on Feb. 20.

CAV reopened Friday after getting rid of the potentially flammable decor, but about a dozen nightclubs, bars and restaurants remained shuttered by inspectors or had closed voluntarily to fix violations.

The pace of the inspections is faster than the more comprehensive work fire officials normally do, but inspectors say the fire at The Station nightclub has not made them tougher on business owners.

Some proprietors disagreed, including CAV owner Sylvia Moubayed, who said offending items such as her oil lamps had been there for years.

“Even though it had a teeny weeny flame,” Moubayed said, “it became a fire hazard.”

Carcieri has ordered fire inspectors to quickly examine more than 800 midsize clubs and restaurants, focusing on venues with alcohol or entertainment licenses. More than a third of them had been visited by the end of last week.

“This is a serious and sincere effort by the governor to ensure that more lives are not lost,” Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said.

Serious violations inspectors have found include blocked exits, faulty wiring, missing fire extinguishers and, in the case of an East Providence tavern, a fire exit that led to a fenced-in lot.

More common were minor infractions — anything from broken exit signs to low batteries in emergency lights. In those cases, owners generally are given 48 hours to correct the problem.

“There’s probably a little violation in each building,” said Deputy Chief Richard A. Delgado of the Cranston Fire Department, which closed three businesses.

Inspectors are having to work longer hours, but fire officials say the quality of their inspections is not suffering.