And why wasn't the foam company charged? Patrick Lynch: Did he do his job perfectly? [9] The lack of usable exits were also a factor, as was the inward door that Larocque had found and asked to be removed. You know people didn't react instantly. The Station nightclub owners Michael, left, and Jeffrey Derderian, right, pleaded no contest to 100 counts of misdemeanor manslaughter and agreed to a deal. He doesn't know. [86][87] The memorial dedication ceremony took place on May 21, 2017. [36] Butler was there for a planned piece on nightclub safety being reported by Jeffrey A. Derderian, a WPRI news reporter who was also a part-owner of The Station. Scott James: When people arrive, they walk through this entrance and this kinda longish hallway. Dan McKee stopped by the memorial on the 20th anniversary of the fire Monday. A surgery to correct a childhood ailment with his ears left him able to balance objects on his chin. But many, including the brothers, feel strongly Laroque should also have been charged. I look at my scars every day. Gina Russo of Cranston, R.I. is a survivor of the Station nightclub fire and president of The Station Fire Memorial Foundation. Patrick Lynch: You're telling me it wasn't, and I don't know that it wasn't. Stephen Sweet, a Quincy firefighter who lost his cousin Shawn Sweet in the fire, came to play the bagpipes at a memorial ceremony Monday, WCVB reported. [3] A fire had previously occurred at the building in 1972 while it was used as a restaurant called Julio's. There is one consistent thing I have learned after 18 years in the The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., was on fire . Linda Saran: The foam was raining down and the flames are dripping from the ceiling. Phil Barr: A lot of people moved back towards the main entrance it became really clear that we were not going to be able [to] get out the front door. [2] Larocque later told the Rhode Island State Police that he had not spotted the polyurethane foam during the November 2002 inspection because he was upset after finding an illegal inward swinging door that he had previously asked to be removed from the building. Patrick Lynch: They are running the operation. The roof was caving in, walls were caving in, body after body in front of me. The Station Nightclub Fire: Who's Responsible? On February 20, 2003, in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in United States history occurred in The Station nightclub. And he says you can. JEFF DERDERIAN [crying]: Many people didn't make it out and that is a horror that will haunt my family and I for the rest of our lives. [37] The report had been inspired by the E2 nightclub stampede in Chicago that killed 21 people three days earlier. As it turns out, the foam they used was highly flammable. There had to be that period for me. [83], In June 2003, the Station Fire Memorial Foundation (SFMF) was formed with the purpose of purchasing the property, to build and maintain a memorial. Jack Russell declined "48 Hours"' request for an interview. And by then, the black smoke was pouring out over their heads. The Station nightclub fire would become one of the deadliest fires in a club in U.S. history. According to author Scott James, Great White had reportedly used a large pyro display without permission at other clubs, including just days before the fire at a show in New Jersey. Phil Barr: I don't like to talk about it, but I remember feeling weight on top of me, and I'm pretty sure I crawled out from under another person to pull myself up. It was late on Feb. 20, 2003, when the cold winter night erupted in flames. The four exits inside The Station: "There's an exit near the stage an exit through the kitchen. The Foam.". [34], Providence Phoenix columnist Ian Donnis wrote of the effect that the fire had on the close-knit Rhode Island community, "The loss of so much life would represent a tragedy anywhere, but it struck especially hard in Rhode Island, the nation's smallest state, where no place is more than an hour away by car and the fire claimed one tenth of one percent of the state's population. [6], Great White, the headlining band of the February 20 concert, had risen to fame as part of the glam metal scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Del Sesto said her life is told in three chapters now. I am proud. The brothers decided that because Jeff had young kids, Michael would go. [21] The fire spread throughout the building and was completely engulfed within six minutes of the pyrotechnic ignition. They didn't even let him talk about it. The brothers say they are still haunted by the events of that horrific night. (WJAR) WEST WARWICK . They are speaking out about the fire for the first time. The fire seemed to burn quickly, she added. Phil Barr: I couldn't hear alarms. You walk on the property, and it doesnt feel tragic anymore. "[91], Two years to the day after the fire, band members Russell and Kendall, along with Great White's attorney, Ed McPherson, appeared on CNN's Larry King Live with three survivors of the fire and the father of Longley, to discuss how their lives had changed since the incident. Barr, who was in his junior year, had dreams of a career on Wall Street and swam competitively for his college swim team. So, I said to Deb, "stay here. It's like a surge of bodies. It just so happens that we're evacuated due to the CZU complex fire but hey that's how. [48] The grand jury also did not return charges against Russell. Jody King: We never knew the whole story because the trial never happened, so everything really never came out. 9. Scott James: It should not have happened. [98], 41, a documentary about Nicholas O'Neill, the youngest victim of the fire, was screened at Rhode Island theaters in 2008. But Jeff Derderian, who was helping out at the bar, says he and an employee tried to get to the stage with a fire extinguisher. Eighteen years later, there was no consensus among survivors when it comes to blame. Jim Axelrod: If the brothers are relying on the fire marshal to tell them whether or not they can continue to do business. I don't know that I'll ever forgive myself for what happened that night, so I can't expect anybody else to. In February 2008, Providence television station. The Foam.". Her bill was $646 that month, she said. As Great White started their first song, their tour manager Daniel Biechele set off four large fireworks called gerbs. He sees his actions as a verdict on his own humanity. [9][10][8] At the time of their performance at the Station, Great White only had two of its original members in its lineup: Lead singer Jack Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall. there are other people who should be responsible. Biechele. It just so happens that we're . In the months and years that followed, Jody also learned about Tracy's heroic last moments. When January comes each year, she starts a lesson, delicately, talking about The Station and how there was a fire there. The second was the time from that night until the dedication of the memorial last spring. At first, there was no panic. That day let her put a period on the last sentence of Chapter Two, she said. Scott James: It was a typical kind of roadside dive. In the end, the survivors and victims' families settled for a total of $176 million. Today, we mourn the 100 lives lost in the Station nightclub fire and the hundreds more whose lives will never be the same. I went and laid down next to Deb and just waited to die. For years, he worked in Boston for Channel 7. [49] In 2013, Kendall told The Providence Journal that he maintained amicable contact with some survivors, victims' families, and the Station Fire Memorial Foundation. These TIAs were subsequently incorporated into the 2006 edition of NFPA 101, along with additional exit requirements for new nightclub occupancies. I needed for that day to come, she said. once you could no longer see, it was total pandemonium. Jim Axelrod: The brothers say," wait a minute, we ordered sound foam. The Derderians have always maintained that they never gave the band permission to use pyrotechnics. This is a massive part of my life. America's Deadliest Rock Concert: The Guest List explores the Station nightclub fire through gripping survivor accounts and family members and friends of victims who have memorialized their loss through pursuits ranging from an exhibit of commemorative body art to re-immersion in the rock culture that initially brought them and their loved ones I've been after this bike for over 4 years and I finally got the call! And I said my hands won't work. In the stampede, 21 people were killed. In my head, I didnt even belong with them because I walked out without a scratch.. This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 14:21. Scott James: They only have about 60 seconds to get out of the building if they're going to live. I can only pray that they understand that I would do anything to undo what happened that night and give them back their loved ones. [100], Gonsalves was inducted into the Rhode Island Radio and Television Hall of Fame in 2013. And then the main exit that hallway where everyone came through," explains Scott James. Jeff Derderian: We tried to get as far as we could. His work was instrumental in amassing 176 million dollars in settlements from persons and corporations responsible for the fire. Phil Barr: It was getting harder and harder to breathe I could feel tightness and constriction in my chest. I figured I was on my own at that point.. It is the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. Linda Saran: The bar got quiet because people were dying literally and all you could hear was the roar of the fire and liquor bottles exploding. Jim Axelrod: Did you have enough time to form those complete thoughts? And he's like he don't know. [95] When Russell launched his version of the band in 2012, Kendall's group responded that Russell had no right to use the name. [12] Kendall, who had co-founded the band with Russell in 1977, had rejoined Russell's version of the group in 2002. It was already in contract. "It feels like somebody knew somebody who was in that fire or knew somebody who did, so the pain is very personal.". So, it was not a great decision to use these inside a nightclub that only has 12-foot ceilings. Survivors and friends of survivors active in the effort to turn the nightclub site in West Warwick into a memorial park recount the emotional journeys that brought them from 2003 to 2018.. Jim Axelrod: Who's responsible for that foam going up on the wall?
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