Christina Pimentel wasnt at the Station 15 years ago but she remembers the fire that killed 100 people because one of them was her uncle, Carlos Pimentel Sr. Lead singer Jack Russell said, Wow . It took about five years to come to terms with that, she said. The night of the fire, hundreds of people gathered at The Station to see Great White, an 80s band now with some new members lead by singer Jack Russell and known mainly for their hit "Once. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Incredibly, West Warwicks fire marshal, Denis Larocque, remains on the job. But she said she also wants to keep the people she has met from that night, who she sees as friends and not sharers of a horrible experience. The noxious smell triggered panic. FireRescue1 is revolutionizing the way the fire service community The Station nightclub fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003 at The Station, a nightclub and hard rock music venue in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230.During a concert by the rock band Great White, a pyrotechnic display ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. The first two days of the Iraq war, Bush launched $500 million in Tomahawk cruise missiles to hit a target that wasnt there, says Dan Davidson, a videographer from Westerly, Rhode Island, who shot some dramatic still photos inside the Stationthat night. Quiet, emotional end for Station fire remnants: The more than 700 pieces of evidence, trucked from the Cranston warehouse where they had been held in evidence storage, were destroyed. Sunday marks 19 years since a fire tore through The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200 others. Petrarca remembers one of the "most beautiful moments" she's had. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time He wasn't charged with a crime, but his thoughts punish him. There had to be that period for me. With 15surgeries behind her, Russo will undergo many more to reconstruct various parts of her body as well as years of physical therapy. Some of the most grievously injured still work hard to get better, or close to what they were physically and emotionally before the fire. But, like so many others who escaped the inferno, she also simmers with darker emotions. He refused to talk with reporters and entered an automobile driven by a lawyer. Station Fire Memorial Foundation rejects donation from Great White singer: Out of the ashes of the Station fire, tougher building codes arose. "I can't do it for the rest of my life," she said. Station fire: He lost his brother but didnt blame the Derderians: The Derderian brothers became pariahs after the fire, ostracized and blamed for the tragedy. . It made me realize, I might be only one person, but my story and my injuries were making people listen, she said. Her father has seven brothers, Pimentel said, and she was especially close to Carlos. Prosecutor Randall White urged a sentence of ten years, Biechele frequently paused to choke back tears, How LDeia Joyce Took An HIV+ Diagnosis And Turned It Into Her Lifes Mission, Heres The Most Notorious Murder From Every State, Here Is The Scariest Urban Legend From Every State, 10 Of The Most Horrifying Concert Tragedies In History. Fused by pain, Station fire survivors, loved ones mark 18th anniversary: Theyre all here. But for Karren Lee Ziner, staff writer for the Providence Journal, who was the first on the scene that February night, TheStationfire was its own special nightmare and it still haunts her. "It's just one of those things that's ingrained in you.". Lexipol. Cookie Notice First, there is the issue of the club's capacity. YouTube / National Fire Protection Association. "It would have been my legacy," Vanner said. The dead were found mostly crowded by the entrance and in the bathroom. How tragedy inspired one member of Great White: After the fire, Mark Kendall, guitarist for Great White, drew close to some survivors, and relatives and friends of those who died and were injured. Fifteen years from now, she hopes, her students will go by the park, and have a memory, a connection, with the 100 people whose names and faces are etched into black granite squares arrayed throughout the park. Realizing the truth, Biechele gasped, I think Im in trouble. Fire reached the ceiling. Just seconds after 80s sensation Great White took the stage, pyrotechnics ignited a fire. She got out. "In my head, I didn't even belong with them because I walked out without a scratch.". All told, 100 people were killed either in the fire or as a result of their injuries and it became the nation's fourth deadliest nightclub fire. she said. But I don't want it to define the rest of my life. But 15 years later, she said, it's time for her to move out of. Firefighter and RI state Rep. talks trauma. On February 17, 2003 someone discharged pepper spray to break up a fistfight in a Chicago nightclub. Biechele was released from prison on March 19, 2008 after serving less than half his four-year sentence. Some tried to leave through the stage exit only to be confronted by bulky bouncers blocking their way, intoning, Band exit only.. But I should have at least tried.. Many believe the circumstances of their misfortune that they were blue-collar folks gathered in a scruffy club to hear Great White, a has-been hair metal band from the 80s also help explain the lack of interest. After 15 years of it being a dominant part of her everyday life, she said she is ready for it to be a part of her past. Stacie Angers loved Great White. "I try to say it in the lightest way possible," she said. " Anniversaries, he says, renew the ties and allow him to reflect and recount his version of events that fateful February 20th night. We make them every day, and we hope it doesnt cost a life.. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Find Dance Club On West stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. The fire spread quickly along the ceiling area over the dance floor. That night is not a coherent memory for her, she said, but a sequence of moments when she was hyper-focused on finding her friends or helping those around her. It's irrelevant.". The survivors are still waiting for their lawsuit against the Station owners and dozens of other defendants, the largest civil tort case in Rhode Island history, to play out in federal court. Mr. Williams, who works in telephone sales, needs a ride to his job and cannot do quotidian things like opening jars and tying shoes. For the first few years she shunned memorial ceremonies but eventually was convinced to go. She has limited use of her right arm. White commented, Biecheles failure to get a permit in Rhode Island was not an unwitting, innocuous oversight but a deliberate, intentional decision not to abide by Rhode Island law., Biecheles attorney, Thomas G. Briody, noted that Biechele pled guilty despite his lawyers advice. ", He told bartender Julie Mellini that they had to leave, and she and several patrons followed Vanner out the kitchen door. While many say they. It wasnt about forgiveness for the death of his brother, because he never blamed them. Town fire inspector Denis P. Larocque, for not noticing the foam during an inspection a few months before the fire. Skin grafts make them itch, like junkies attacking their scabs if their fingers work at all. There were four exits but most people scrambled for the front door through which they had entered. interacts online and researches product purchases And Paul Vanner didn't like what he saw. But 15 years later, she said, it's time for her to move out of its shadow. Source: Wikimedia Commons. The victims of the fire were trapped inside the burning building because it lacked sufficient means of egress such as egress windows. "This is a massive part of my life. The states Crime Victim Compensation Program awarded grants averaging $8,800 to 222 claimants after the fire, but the government provided little else. The fire started at the West Warwick club when a manager for the band Great White set off pyrotechnics for the band's show. Rhode Island nightclub burns A fire at a rock concert in a West Warwick, Rhode Island, nightclub kills 100 people and seriously injures almost 200 more on February 20, 2003. The Station Nightclub was a popular heavy metal nightclub in West Warwick, RI built in 1946 and grandfathered out of the 1976 fire sprinkler law. What he calls a fellowship has endured. "It was crowded, and it was getting bad. Petrarca was sitting near the bar that night in 2003, about five feet from a door, when the fire broke out. The Derderians purchased The Station in March 2000 from Howard Julian and signed a lease with the Raymond Villanova realty company to rent the property. For the first few years she shunned memorial ceremonies but eventually was convinced to go. The Fire. New fire-safety regulations became law in July, requiring sprinklers in more Rhode Island businesses and banning pyro almost everywhere, but some business owners in the state have balked, citing the cost of improvements. Property owner Ray Villanova formally donated it to the Station Fire Memorial Foundation on September 28, 2012. It is the second most-devastating fire disaster in the history of Brazilsurpassed only by the Niteri circus fire of December 1961, which killed 503 people in Niteri, and the deadliest nightclub fire since the . It started as part of the fundraising basketball games she organized at the school. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. One year after the fire killed 100 people and injured nearly 200 at the Station, a nightclub in the broken-down mill town of West Warwick, emotions remain raw all across the state. After prison, Biechele rebuilding life in Fla.: Former tour manager who lit the pyrotechnics has left music industry behind, his lawyer says. "I needed for that day to come," she said. Taking her students to the memorial park and telling them what it means were ways of building that memory, she said. But with 300 plaintiffs and hefty lawyer fees, even a huge payout may not guarantee permanent comfort. Copyright 2023 FireRescue1. This week marks 20 years since the horrific Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, which killed 100 people and left 230 injured. A fast-moving fire engulfed the club in five and a half minutes, as 230 people were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured. The plea agreement meant Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. could sentence Biechele to a maximum of ten years imprisonment or as little as probation with community service. The Derderians assured Warner of their hope that he would not be disturbed. WEST WARWICK, R.I. Savagely burned in the fire that incinerated the Station nightclub here five years ago next Wednesday, Linda Fisher has endured a dozen surgeries to salvage her . As a result of the fire, the grandfather clause exempting buildings built before the mandatory sprinkler law was abolished and all Rhode Island nightclubs are required to have sprinklers. RI Hospital specialists, Station fire victims reflect after a decade since deadly blaze: What happened that evening and for the ensuing four weeks was unprecedented in our hospital, said Dr. David T. Harrington. Michael Derderian, who plead no contest for involuntary manslaughter for installation of the combustible foam, was sentenced to four years. The Station Fire: 100 victims in photos 98 PHOTOS More Stories Has fire prevention in RI improved since The Station fire? The scars on John Fairbairn's body have faded during the 10 years since he suffered severe burns in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I. . 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. They were all there for a concert headlined by Great White, a rock band that formed in the late 70s, and has been together ever since, even though some members have . According to the Report of the Technical Investigation of the incident, the fire was . They died here, Jody King said of the100 people who died. Briody stated, Hes the only man to say, I apologize. . 00:50. Editor's Note: This story was originally published on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. He sees a court-ordered therapist, who has told him he has depression and PTSD. Firefighters and rescue personnel remove one of the fatalities from the nightclub The Station in West Warwick, RI on Feb. 21, 2003. She finallywent home, on June 13th, 113 days after the Great White concert. State officials, already grappling with huge budget deficits and a reputation for cronyism, acknowledge that Rhode Island needs a new corps of fire inspectors if the mandated changes are to have any real impact. The Derderian brothers were targets of criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. It is in equal parts fascinating, horrifying, heart-wrenching and inspiring. On the day he died, Matt kissed his wifes stomach and said: God, I wish shed come today. Now, ten years later the family reflects on the many challenges and losses life has thrown at them. I submit that a brutal, draconian sentence like ten years in prison is not warranted by Dan Biecheles conduct.. "But instead, I chose to run like a common coward.". So far, tickets are selling poorly for a concert to benefit the Station Family Fund, planned for Feb. 25 in Providence. But as he watched on television in 2021 theformer club owners,brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian,on their whitewash tour of the truthgo unchallenged by the reporter and producers of "48 Hours," he felt that agitation rising up in him again. firefighter pleads guilty to 3 counts of manslaughter, is sentenced to probation, LODD: Mich. firefighter dies after coming into contact with power line, NYPD: Burglar climbs through window of FDNY firehouse, fights with 2 firefighters, Open the tools menu in your browser. This is a massive part of my life. I try to say it in the lightest way possible, she said. Biechele frequently paused to choke back tears as he said, Since the fire Ive wanted to tell the victims and their families how truly sorry I am for what happened that night and the part that I had in it. People stare at them in public, at the bandannas that cover their hairless heads, at their red, claw-like hands, their lack of certain facial features, their melted ears. They can barely use their hands, and theyre exhausted all the time because their bodies have been put through war.. William Adams offers an initial look at the dispatch and response to the Station Night Club fire in West Warwick, RI. At least 60children lost one or more parent in the blaze; 23people lost a spouse. At first, all kinds of help poured in for the roughly 200 injured survivors and families of 100 others who died in the disaster, one of the worst nightclub fires in the nations history. My head, I wish shed come TODAY club & # x27 ; s.! 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