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The Station Nightclub Fire - 22 years ago this day
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:26 am
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:26 am
What an horrific event. One of the worst memories of my lifetime. Yes, there have been worse events that have taken more lives but this one really sticks in my brain. I've probably watched too many videos, and read too many stories about this event over the years, but I just can't help myself. Some of the videos are damned hard to watch. Just horrible.
Wiki
Youtube Link
Youtube Link
Wiki
quote:
The Station nightclub fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, at The Station, a nightclub and hard rock music venue located at 211 Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230.
During a concert by the rock band Jack Russell's Great White, an offshoot of the original Great White band, a pyrotechnic display ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. Within six minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames.
The fire remains the deadliest firework accident in U.S. history and the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It was also the second-deadliest nightclub fire in New England, behind the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire.
Youtube Link
Youtube Link
23
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:28 am to muttenstein
at first i was thinking BR. It was amazing how fast it went up.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:30 am to Topwater Trout
quote:
at first i was thinking BR. It was amazing how fast it went up.
Me too. I thought he was getting mixed up with the Caterie. I remember that smoke plume coming home from New Year's in NOLA.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:33 am to muttenstein
Indeed sad.
So many "what ifs" that would have saved most, if not all, of the attendees.
1. Wrong type insulation/ ceiling tiles, etc.
2. Multiple exits that were available, but most didn't know about.
3. Even if people all exited the one front entrance, but did so in an orderly fashion, most if not all still could have made it out ok.
4. And why even use the pyrotechnics in such a small venues?
So many "what ifs" that would have saved most, if not all, of the attendees.
1. Wrong type insulation/ ceiling tiles, etc.
2. Multiple exits that were available, but most didn't know about.
3. Even if people all exited the one front entrance, but did so in an orderly fashion, most if not all still could have made it out ok.
4. And why even use the pyrotechnics in such a small venues?
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:34 am to muttenstein
The Station fire is an amazing, very deep rabbit hole if you ever just want to waste a few hours.. the videos ive seen over the years , and the descriptions of bodies stacked like corded firewood at the main front door entrance just trying to get out- those will stick with me forever .
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:35 am to BK Lounge
quote:
those will stick with me forever
Agreed, I remember wishing that had not watched the videos.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:37 am to BK Lounge
quote:
The Station fire is an amazing, very deep rabbit hole if you ever just want to waste a few hours.. the videos ive seen over the years , and the descriptions of bodies stacked like corded firewood at the main front door entrance just trying to get out- those will stick with me forever .
I agree, and well said.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:40 am to muttenstein
I make it a point not to watch horrifying videos that will get burned in my brain. It’s not good for the soul.
This is one I shouldn’t have watched.
This is one I shouldn’t have watched.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 7:52 am to GeorgeTheGreek
quote:
I make it a point not to watch horrifying videos that will get burned in my brain. It’s not good for the soul.
This is one I shouldn’t have watched.
I agree with you here. I wish I had never seen one of the more graphic videos at the time, but I kind of got obsessed with this particular event.
To your point, there are a lot of other unrelated videos I refuse to watch.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:18 am to muttenstein
One of the main reasons not to use pyrotechnics inside especially when your stage has flammable foam around it.
I believe the owners went to jail and maybe the band manager if I remember right.
Some firehouses use it as a training video.
Crazy event that could have easily been avoided with the use of your brain.
I believe the owners went to jail and maybe the band manager if I remember right.
Some firehouses use it as a training video.
Crazy event that could have easily been avoided with the use of your brain.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:24 am to BK Lounge
quote:
and the descriptions of bodies stacked like corded firewood at the main front door entrance
It was such a poor design.
If I remember correctly, even after you got out the door you had to immediately turn left or right to complete your exit away from the building because they didn't build a ramp or staircase the led straight from the door. It was basically a giant T design.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:24 am to muttenstein
Career firefighter here (not that it matters 
) On a much smaller scale we get calls from employees at restaurants how they lock exits in kitchen so cooks don’t step out and smoke. We always go up there and explain they need this exit in case of fire, I bring up fire in OP to the manager every time
) On a much smaller scale we get calls from employees at restaurants how they lock exits in kitchen so cooks don’t step out and smoke. We always go up there and explain they need this exit in case of fire, I bring up fire in OP to the manager every time Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:27 am to Mushroom1968
The camera man did a hell of a job of recognizing something was very wrong before anyone else really did.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:28 am to GetCocky11
quote:
It was such a poor design.
Im not a builder or an inspector.. but when any mass death thing like this happens, i think the hope is that they didnt die in vain and that some change will come out of it… maybe when it comes to the design of places like this, and the insulation issues mentioned earlier, as well as the stupidity of pyrotechnics in a small venue like this- maybe in the almost quarter century since the Station fire there have been some changes in the approach to this stuff.. but I dont know .
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:34 am to muttenstein
The band escaped out the stage doors to the back. People in the crowd tried to follow but the bouncers wouldn’t let them through because they were trying to keep people from going backstage. Hopefully those bouncers died.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:39 am to GetCocky11
quote:
If I remember correctly, even after you got out the door you had to immediately turn left or right to complete your exit away from the building because they didn't build a ramp or staircase the led straight from the door. It was basically a giant T design.
The second video in my OP does an excellent job of laying out the various exits and the poor design of pathways towards those exits.
There was even one exit where a bouncer was stationed who initially blocked folks exiting from there.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:39 am to The Boat
quote:
The band escaped out the stage doors to the back.
I thought a guitarist died
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:41 am to muttenstein
And IIRC the only reason the camera crew was present for this was because of a similar fire or crush at a nightclub in Chicago in the days before.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:42 am to BK Lounge
quote:
Im not a builder or an inspector.. but when any mass death thing like this happens, i think the hope is that they didnt die in vain and that some change will come out of it… maybe when it comes to the design of places like this, and the insulation issues mentioned earlier, as well as the stupidity of pyrotechnics in a small venue like this- maybe in the almost quarter century since the Station fire there have been some changes in the approach to this stuff.. but I dont know .
Towards the end of the 3rd video I posted, the sweeping fire safety changes coming out of this tragedy are mentioned.
Posted on 2/20/25 at 8:42 am to East Coast Band
quote:
I thought a guitarist died
*most of the band
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