For the 2009 Station fire near Los Angeles, go to August 2009 California wildfires .
The Station nightclub fire occurred beginning at 11:07 PM EST, on Thursday, February 20 , 2003 , at The Station , a glam metal and rock n roll themed nightclub located in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States; it is considered to be the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history, killing 100 people, four of whom died after being admitted to local hospitals. The fire was caused when pyrotechnic sparks, set off by the tour manager of the evening's headlining band, Great White, ignited flammable sound insulation foam in the walls and ceilings around the stage, creating a flash fire that engulfed the club in 5 1/2 minutes. Some 230 people were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured. Video footage of the fire depicts the astonishing rapidity of its initial growth, the quickness with which stampeding patrons blocked the front entrance, and the ensuing pandemonium as several people tried desperately to help, by whatever means possible, those attempting to escape the building, which, by that time, was already gushing black smoke.
The fire
The fire started at 11:07 PM, just seconds into headlining band Great White's opening song, "Desert Moon," when pyrotechnics set off by the band's tour manager, Daniel Biechele, ignited the building's flammable soundproofing foam. The pyrotechnics were gerbs, cylindrical devices that produce a controlled spray of sparks. Biechele used three gerbs calibrated at 15 by 15, which spray sparks 15 feet for 15 seconds. Two gerbs were at 45-degree angles, with the middle one pointing straight up. The flanking gerbs became the principal cause of the fire when their sparks hit the soundproofing foam on both sides of the drummer's alcove at the rear of the stage. The flames were at first thought to be part of the act; only as the fire reached the ceiling and smoke began to billow did people realize it was uncontrolled. Twenty seconds after the pyrotechnics ended, the band stopped playing and lead singer Jack Russell calmly remarked into the microphone, "Wow...this ain't good." In less than a minute, the entire stage was engulfed in flames, with most of the band members and entourage scurrying for the west exit by the stage.
By this time, the piercing shrill of the fire alarm had made everyone acutely aware of the impending danger, and, although there were four possible exits, most people naturally headed for the front door through which they had entered. The ensuing stampede in the inferno led to a crush in the narrow hallway leading to that exit, quickly blocking the exit completely and resulting in numerous deaths and injuries among the patrons and staff. Of the 462 in attendance, 100 lost their lives, and about half were injured, either from burns, smoke inhalation, or trampling. Among those who perished in the fire were Great White's lead guitarist, Ty Longley, and the show's emcee, WHJY DJ Mike "The Doctor" Gonsalves.
The fire, from its inception, was caught on videotape by cameraman Brian Butler for WPRI-TV of Providence, and the beginning of the tape was released to national news stations. Butler was there for a planned piece on nightclub safety being reported by Jeffrey Derderian, a WPRI news reporter who was also a part-owner of The Station. WPRI-TV would later be cited for conflict of interest in having a reporter do a report concerning his own property. The report had been inspired by the E2 nightclub stampede in Chicago that had claimed 21 lives only four days earlier. At the scene of the fire, Butler gave this account of the tragedy:
Aftermath
Thousands of mourners attended a memorial service at St. Gregory the Great Church in Warwick on February 24 , 2003 , to remember those lost in the fire. Following the tragedy, Governor Donald Carcieri declared a moratorium on pyrotechnic displays at venues that hold fewer than 300 people.
Five months after the fire, Great White started a benefit tour, saying a prayer at the beginning of each concert for the friends and families touched by that fateful night and giving a portion of the proceeds to the Station Family Fund. The band said they would never play the song "Desert Moon" again. "I don't think I could ever sing that song again," said lead singer and founder Jack Russell. Guitarist Mark Kendall stated, "We haven't played that song. Things that bring back memories of that night we try to stay away from. And that song reminds us of that night. We haven't played it since then and probably never will." The band has played Desert Moon since, however pyrotechnics have been absent since the tragedy .
The fire was the deadliest in the United States since the 1977 Southgate, Kentucky, Beverly Hills Supper Club fire that claimed 165 lives. The worst nightclub fire occurred on November 28 , 1942 , in Boston at the Cocoanut Grove, where 492 died after paper decorations caught fire. The Rhythm Night Club Fire in Natchez, Mississippi, claimed the lives of approximately 209 persons during a dance in 1940. The Station fire exceeded the death toll of 87 in the March 25 , 1990 , Happyland Fire in the Bronx, New York City.
Currently, the site of the fire is an empty lot, with the exception of a multitude of crosses, memorials left by loved ones of the deceased. Surviving family members have announced their intention to acquire the site and erect a permanent memorial.
On May 20 , 2003 , nondenominational services began to be held at the site of the fire on a monthly basis. Family members and friends gathered to memorialize their loved ones. In June 2003, the Station Fire Memorial Foundation was formed with the purpose of purchasing the property, building and maintaining a memorial. The Foundation continues to hold yearly services on the site, near the anniversary of the fire.
Investigation
In the days after the fire, there were considerable efforts to assign and avoid blame on the part of the band, the nightclub owners, the manufacturers and distributors of the foam material and pyrotechnics, and the concert promoters. Through attorneys, club owners said they did not give permission to the band to use pyrotechnics. Band members claimed they had permission.
While investigators focused on the foam material that had been installed behind the stage, claiming the foam was intended for use in packaging and product display, testimony available to the public contradicts this. Testimony by Barry Warner, the salesman from American Foam who sold the foam to the Derderians, confirmed that there was a sales order for high-density acoustic soundproofing foam. Chemical analysis of the actual foam that was in the nightclub on the evening of the fire was never released to the public. A roll of foam confiscated from the basement of the nightclub after the fire was removed by ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, but the testing done on that specific foam was never released to the public. Witnesses to the fire reported that once ignited, flames spread across the foam at approximately one foot per second.
A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation of the fire, using computer simulations with FDS and a mock-up of the stage area and dance floor, concluded that a sprinkler system would have contained the fire long enough to give everyone time to get out safely. However, because of the building's age (built in 1946) and size (4,484 square feet (404 m²)), many believed the Station to be exempt from sprinkler system requirements. In fact, the building had undergone an occupancy change when it was converted from a restaurant to a nightclub. This change dissolved its exemption from the law, a fact that West Warwick fire inspectors never noticed. On the night in question, the Station was legally required to have a sprinkler system but did not.
On December 9, 2003, brothers Jeffrey A. and Michael A. Derderian, the two owners of The Station nightclub, and Daniel M. Biechele, Great White's former road manager, were charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter — two per death, because they were indicted under two separate theories of the crime: criminal-negligence manslaughter (resulting from a legal act in which the accused ignores the risks to others and someone is killed) and misdemeanor manslaughter (resulting from a petty crime that causes a death). All three pleaded not guilty to the charges. The Derderians also were fined $1.07 million for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance for their e
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