Firefighters and rescue personnel remove one of the fatalities from the nightclub The Station in West Warwick, RI on Feb. 21, 2003. The loss is still fresh for her cousins, she said, even 15 years later. At 55, he lives with his parents and keeps to himself. Club owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian were each charged with 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Ive tried to get this away from being about hair bands, about heavy metal, and to make this a people issue, Mr. Snider said. But instead, I chose to run like a common coward.. They all say I never would have stopped it, and I probably wouldnt have. The guy filming was doing so for a piece on nightclub safety if you can even believe the irony of that . In many communities, the crucial task of inspecting buildings in search of potentially life-threatening fire hazards falls to just one person. "I try to say it in the lightest way possible," she said. " The West Warwick, Rhode Island club The Station was purchased by brothers Michael A. and Jeffrey A. Derderian in 2000 and three years later became a scene of tragedy that would haunt Rhode Island forever. If they think about us at all, its probably, They must be all better, so why arent they back to work?. Few people other than staff knew of the kitchen and bar doors. The Station nightclub on Cowesett Avenue and Kulas Road in West Warwick, Rhode Island, caught fire as the band Great White shot off pyrotechnics to punctuate its entrance on stage. Jeff told the audience that polyurethane foam is called solid gasoline by fire experts. And Paul Vanner didn't like what he saw. Editors picks The loss is still fresh for her cousins, she said, even 15 years later. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. She wore a spaghetti-strap top so he could see her scars. Metal handrail and parked vehicles impede . The Station Fire Memorial Foundation procured the land known as the Station Site on September 28, 2012 through a gracious donation. This may be called Tools or use an icon like the cog. In the days after the tragedy, the Derderians and Great White disputed whether the band had permission for pyrotechnics. Biechele flipped a switch that caused lead singer Blackie Lawlesss crotch to erupt with showering sparks. He is now seven years sober from cocaine, although alcohol is a more pestering problem, he says. Mr. Kings fund has run dry three times in recent years and now has $82,000 enough to help the neediest survivors for about six months, he said. "The first time I went to counseling, I made the therapist cry," Del Sesto said. station night club 411 Station Nightclub Fire Premium High Res Photos Browse 411 station nightclub fire stock photos and images available, or search for station fire or station night club to find more great stock photos and pictures. For everyone who was involved, the memories still haunt them. Then there are the nightmares, over and over again, of marching flame and smoke. They died here, Jody King said of the100 people who died. The Station Fire Memorial Foundation website states that the memorial will be a celebration of the lives of the 100 lost directly as a result of the fire.. The second was the time from that night until the dedication of the memorial last spring. Michael received a harsher sentence than Jeff due to a greater involvement in the buying and installation of the foam. Within seconds, sheets of flame raced up the wall. This week marks 20 years since the horrific Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, which killed 100 people and left 230 injured. I never wanted anyone to be hurt in any way. The Station nightclub in West Warwick burned down Feb. 20, 2003, during a concert by rock band Great White, leaving 100 people dead and more than 200 injured. That was the most important thing, they didn't freak.". That night, 492 people died. Gina Russo says she emerged from the flames in a better place: But 10 years after the fire killed her fianc, after 54 operations and skin grafts to heal her burned body and treat recurring complications; after periods of sadness, anger and frustration over who was lost, who wasnt prosecuted, who never apologized, Russo says she is grateful. For more information, please see our After prison, Biechele rebuilding life in Fla.: Former tour manager who lit the pyrotechnics has left music industry behind, his lawyer says. At the opening of the park I had 100 students from my school come, and I had to explain it all so I gave them their learning experience, she said of last Mays dedication of the park on the site of the Station nightclub. she said. Some accepted the letters and others refused them. The 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history Feb 20, 2023 It took less than 5 minutes for fire to engulf The Station nightclub,. Some tried to leave through the stage exit only to be confronted by bulky bouncers blocking their way, intoning, Band exit only.. . Most people dont understand that a burn injury is a life injury, said Ms. Fisher, 38, who gets a Social Security disability payment of about $1,000 a month. Nothing lifts his despair. For example, in 2000, shortly after the Derderians purchased the venue, heavy-metal band W.A.S.P. Jeffrey Derderian was sentenced to community service. THE STATION NIGHTCLUB FIRE 3 The station nightclub has been identified as one of the worst fire cases to have happened in the United States. Diagram showing the location of victims. "It would have been my legacy," Vanner said. I cant open a jar with it, Russo says. . The evacuation of the building turned to chaos as patrons surged toward the exits. The group came under attack for accepting about $100,000 from Great White early on, with some survivors and relatives of the dead calling it blood money. Incredibly, West Warwicks fire marshal, Denis Larocque, remains on the job. The Derderians ordered polyurethane foam from American Foam and installed blocks of it over the walls and ceiling on The Station. The band halted. I needed for that day to come, she said. And Paul Vanner didnt like what he saw. In the aftermath, West Warwick, Rhode Island TV news reporter Jeff Derderian wanted to run a story on nightclub safety. 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. Biechele and Michael Derderian were sentenced to four years in prison, though each was let out early. I look at my scars every day. Petrarca was sitting near the bar that night in 2003, about five feet from a door, when the fire broke out. Editor's Note: This story was originally published on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. The Station Nightclub Fire - Part 1. Survivors from one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history share the stories of their escape from the horrific inferno.Subscribe to WONDER to watch more docum. "It was criminal," he says. "They all came so every single one of those hundred students held up a white rose and they represented one of the 100 [who died]. It took a while, she said, but she thinks she had found the way to move on from it but to keep it with her as well. Vanner spoke about how his life derailed after 11:07 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2003. She said she spent years after that in pain and anger. 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. Today she is president of the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, the group that oversaw the construction of the memorial park. This is a massive part of my life. ", "Things that bother people you sit there and you shake your head and you go, if this is the worst thing that happens to me today, this month, this year, this decade, I mean, at that point it's one of those things. He is now seven years sober from cocaine, although alcohol is a more "pestering problem," he says. Medical costs continue to mount, much of which will be paid from the nearly empty pockets of Rhode Island taxpayers, via Medicaid, and the budgets of a handful of local hospitals, which have been losing millions of dollars for years. In my head, I didnt even belong with them because I walked out without a scratch.. Great White lead singer Russell and manager Biechele asserted they had the Derderians permission. But I should have at least tried.". Nine friends didn't. It wasnt about forgiveness for the death of his brother, because he never blamed them. She took a photograph of the stone of a man who died and sent it to his daughter in California. But with last years dedication of the Station Memorial Park on the site of the nightclub, she said she found that along with the scars, that night had provided her with a purpose in life and people she would otherwise never have known. She sees telling the story of the Station fire as a way of preventing others from going through the same thing. Among the dead was the band's guitarist, Ty Longley. and our Turn on push notifications and don't miss anything! The fire started at the West Warwick club when a manager for the band Great White set off pyrotechnics for the band's show. Just seconds after 80s sensation Great White took the stage, pyrotechnics ignited a fire. "There had to be that period for me. "There was nothing heroic about what I did.". Report of the Technical Investigation of The Station Nightclub Fire (NIST . How he went from being a man with a job he loved and friends, to someone struggling with sobriety and guilt, suffering flashbacks at fire alarms and smoke-like fog. For the first few years she shunned memorial ceremonies but eventually was convinced to go. 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. The names of the victims of the Station night club fire Russo suffered burns over 40 percent of her body. I never imagined that anyone ever would be. On Feb. 20, 2003, hundreds of people were packed into the Station nightclub when the '80s rock group Great White took the small stage. Prosecutors recently brought involuntary-manslaughter charges against the clubs owners, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, and Dan Biechele, Great Whites former tour manager, and a raft of civil suits have also been filed. After the investigation ended and prosecutors had no more questions, after reporters stopped calling and the years passed since that deadly night, the man who was the sound technician and stage manager at The Station nightclub was left with his thoughts. She wrote a book, meets with burn victims, talks to fire departments and fire safety groups across the country. In the aftermath, West Warwick, Rhode Island TV news reporter Jeff Derderian wanted to run a story on nightclub safety. West Warwick police officer Mark Knott radioed headquarters: Stampede.. I look at my scars every day. Tweet. Louisville KY February 22 2023 A man has been charged with attempted murder for the shooting of a nightclub bouncer back in April 2021.. Vernon L. Jackson, 40, was arrested on Jan. 30, nearly two years after the incident initially occurred. The bouncers had been instructed that door was only for band members and associates. One of the first things Russo learned, when she woke up in April, was that her boyfriend, Freddy Crisostomi, 38, a successful house painter and the father of two children, had died in the fire, of smoke inhalation. . 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. I didnt survive to sit home on the couch and cry, she said. "But instead, I chose to run like a common coward.". These days, she uses her job as a teacher at John F. Deering Middle School to make it so those who didnt suffer so directly will remember it too. The Derderian brothers were targets of criminal investigations and civil lawsuits. She saw friends who had lost people they loved, others who had been burned and scarred by the fire, and felt embarrassed that she got out physically unharmed. Nothing lifts his despair. '", 15 years after the deadly Station Nightclub fire https://t.co/ApQgkrkI7A pic.twitter.com/tytNEKAX5F. finds relevant news, identifies important training information, 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. A band that was performing that night used pyrotechnics that ignited polyurethane foam insulation lining the walls and ceiling of the stage platform. Copyright 2023 FireRescue1. I had the fire extinguisher in my hand, Vanner said. The fire was the product of a hardened entrepreneur's greedbut for years, a young. In June, Russo tasted solid food for the first time since February 20th. Today she is president of the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, the group that oversaw the construction of the memorial park. Station Fire Memorial Foundation 78 Wilbur Avenue Cranston, RI 02920 Since 2003, the approach of the anniversary of the Station fire, where she and her twin sister, Cara Ann, got out unhurt while 100 others died and about 200 more were injured, was four weeks of dread. Donovan Williams, who was badly burned, hopes settlements will help some. More on the fire:The Station fire: 100 victims in photos. Sparks had ignited flammable foam that soundproofed the walls. Her father won't visit the memorial, and it took her years to be able to drive down Cowesett Avenue, she said. This fire completely destroyed the building and resulted in 100 fatalities and over 200 injuries, becoming the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. When others turned away from the Derderians, King remained. 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