The Rhode Island tragedy
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The Rhode Island tragedy
Twiggyish | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:14 pm     I know this thread will be moved..but could we keep it here for a few days? I am very saddened about this whole incident. Those poor people died so tragically. |
Spygirl | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:26 pm     WEST WARWICK, R.I. (Feb. 21) - A nightclub erupted in a raging fire during a rock band's pyrotechnics display, killing at least 95 people and injuring more than 180 as frantic mobs rushed to escape. Club officials said Friday the special effects were used without permission. The death toll rose as firefighters searched through the charred shell of the single-story wood building. Gov. Don Carcieri said the number of dead had reached 95 by late Friday afternoon. ''This building went up fast - nobody had a chance,'' said Carcieri, who rushed back to the state from a Florida vacation. It was the deadliest U.S. nightclub fire since 164 people were killed at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky., in 1977. It also came less than a week after 21 people were killed in a stampede at a Chicago nightspot. The '80s hard rock band Great White had just started playing Thursday night when giant pyrotechnic sparklers on stage began shooting up and ignited the ceiling above them and soundproofing near the stage. Some in the crowd said they thought it was part of the act, but the fire quickly spread through the low-ceilinged building, filling it with thick, black smoke. The entire club was engulfed in flames within three minutes, Fire Chief Charles Hall said. Capacity at The Station Concert Club was 300, but Hall said fewer people than that were inside the building. Robin Petrarca, 44, was standing within a few feet of a door, but said she couldn't see the exit because of the billowing smoke. In the rush to escape, she fell and was trampled, but made it out. ''There was nothing they could do, it went up so fast,'' she said. Hall said the club recently passed a fire inspection, but didn't have a city permit for pyrotechnics. The building, which is at least 60 years old, was not required to have a sprinkler system because of its small size. State officials said they had started an investigation and state police had spoken to band members. The pyrotechnics were used without permission from the club, said Kathleen Hagerty, a lawyer representing club owners Michael and Jeffrey Derderian. ''No permission was ever requested by the band or its agents to use pyrotechnics at The Station, and no permission was ever given,'' she said. The band's singer, Jack Russell, said the manager checked with the club before the show and the use of pyrotechnics was approved. And Paul Woolnough, president of Great White's management company, said tour manager Dan Biechele ''always checks'' with club officials before pyrotechnics are used. ''I'm not going to reply to those allegations, but I do know that the club would have been informed, as they always are,'' Woolnough said. Biechele could not immediately be located for comment. The owner of a well-known New Jersey nightclub said Great White failed to tell him they were using pyrotechnics for a concert there a week ago. ''Our stage manager didn't even know it until it was done,'' said Domenic Santana, owner of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. ''My sound man freaked out because of the heat and everything, and they jeopardized the health and the safety of our patrons.'' Most of the bodies were found near The Station's front exit, some of them burned and others dead from smoke inhalation. Hall also said some appeared to have been trampled in the rush to escape. ''They tried to go out the same way they came in. That was the problem,'' Hall said. ''They didn't use the other three fire exits.'' Many of the injured were taken to Rhode Island Hospital. The governor said at least 25 people were in critical condition at state hospitals with severe burns and suffering from smoke inhalation. The ages of the victims ranged from the teens to the late 30s. ''As much as we can prepare for anything like this the stark reality is hard to imagine,'' said Dr. Joseph Amaral, a surgeon and president of Rhode Island Hospital. ''One of the most remarkable things for me is the degree of inhalation injuries that everyone sustained.'' The blaze broke out at about 11 p.m. during the first song at the concert in West Warwick, about 15 miles southwest of Providence. ''All of a sudden I felt a lot of heat,'' said Russell, the band's singer. ''I see the foam's on fire. ... The next thing you know the whole place is in flames.'' He said he started dousing the fire with a water bottle but couldn't put it out, then all the lights went out. ''I just couldn't believe how fast it went up,'' he said. Russell said one of his band members, guitarist Ty Longley, was among the missing. Firefighters worked through the morning Friday to pull charred bodies from the building as onlookers watched, worried about missing friends. ''They were completely burned. They had pieces of flesh falling off them,'' said Michelle Craine, who was waiting to hear about a friend who was missing. ''It was the worst thing I've ever seen.'' Nearly 200 people gathered at a family center set up at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick by the American Red Cross of Rhode Island. Grief counselors and clergy members were on hand. Witnesses described seeing dozens of people dash toward for the door after the fire began, and some of those who escaped were later seen staggering into a triage center. Rescuers pulled badly injured victims from the fire as ladder trucks poured water over the flaming skeleton of the building. ''It was calm at first, everyone thought it was part of the act,'' said John DiMeo, who was sitting at the bar near the front door when the fire started. ''It happened so fast.'' Brian Butler was filming the concert for WPRI-TV and saw the flames spread across the ceiling and people rush for the doors. ''People were trying to help others and people were smashing out windows, and people were pulling on people and nobody cared how many cuts they got, nobody cared about the bruises or the burns,'' Butler said. ''They just wanted out of the building.'' The club had passed a fire code compliance inspection Dec. 31 to get its liquor license renewed, Hall said. He said sprinklers were not required because of the building's size, but a license would have been required for the pyrotechnic display. Great White is a heavy metal band whose hits include ''Once Bitten, Twice Shy'' and ''Rock Me.'' The band emerged in the Los Angeles metal scene of the late 1980s, selling 6 million albums and earning a Grammy nomination in 1990. They continued to tour and make albums in recent years, maintaining a strong allegiance of fans from their glory days of the 1980s. It was the second tragedy at a U.S. club in four days. Early Monday, 21 people were killed and more than 50 were injured in the Chicago melee, which began after a security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight. The worst nightclub fire in the United States was Nov. 28, 1942, when 492 people died at Boston's Cocoanut Grove nightclub. AP-NY-02-21-03 1704EST Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. |
Seamonkey | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:31 pm     Last I heard the death toll was at 96, no more bodies to remove, but many of those in the hospital are badly burned as well. The video from inside is terrifying.. in part because of the foam soundproofing. Foam is deadly in that it goes up so quickly and creates thick smoke. I read the book Fire Lover, about a pyromaniac and he loved to set his fires when stores were populated and he could put a delay device to start a fire in foam items, giving himself time to leave the store.. Tragic stuff. I started watching this late last night. |
Bastable | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:37 pm     Revolting and unnecessary. Let it be a lesson to everyone: Never assume that other people have your safety in mind. |
Twiggyish | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:44 pm     Bastable very true! |
Willsfan | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:45 pm     My BF said back in the 80's he lived in Nebraska and the local club had that kind of egg-crate (foam) material surrounding the stage but they didn't use anything flammable onstage. If they had it would have also went up like a box of matches. He was surprised that clubs still have that stuff on the walls or that the fire deptartments allowed it. Although some of the foam type material in some clubs may have been treated with a flame retardant to make it less flammable. |
Crossfire | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:52 pm     This is so terrible. I don't know if this is the time or the correct place for this, but I have some thoughts. I find it interesting that sound proofing might be the cause. I followed the creation of a bar on a website where the person who bought the building documented online the process involved in getting a bar operating as it happened, from renovations to city councils and it was very interesting the amount of work that had to be done to meet the sound proofing requirements. In light of this, and the one that happened the other day with the stampede, I have to wonder if the noise abatement and soundproofing is not compromising safety. The reason I say that is because people are getting caught at the doors, and one of the techniques used to soundproof a building, is to obscure the entertainment hall from the entrances, that helps keep sound in, but in the process, creates a bottleneck to the entrances. I think it also gives bar operators plenty of motivation to limit the number of entrances as they create sound leaks that can get your operating permits turned down. In the case of the guy who documented the process online, he had to completely recover the entire facade of his premises in 4 inches of concrete, and create angled tunnels leading to the doors which would probably be hard to navigate in the dark. I suppose in the face of tragedy's such as this, it is hard to resist the urge to overreact, but it seems to me that our larger 'gathering spots' need to have much bigger/more doors. |
Goddessatlaw | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:53 pm     I can't imagine that pyrotechnics are allowed in an indoor facility under any circumstances, much less a small dance club. We have a couple of large old clubs here in Indy, converted 20's film theaters and such, which I have specifically avoided for years because of just this type of concern. They would go up like a gas explosion the minute a small fire started. What a tragedy. If nothing else, I hope this week's nightmares will cause some much needed reform in both the safety standards for clubs and in our personal awareness of safety precautions we should take whenever entering an unfamiliar facility. |
Cyn | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:56 pm     This is a horrible tragedy. These artists were incredibly reckless, and there should have been more monitoring by the club's stage crew. How could they not have noticed what they were setting up? When I was a teenager in the 80s, you wouldn't believe the places my friends and I sought out to see music and art. So, I would like to throw a plug in here for local alternative art scene funding - instead of elimination - because the kids need art. It's very sad. |
Car54 | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:05 pm     I think the big debate is going to be between the band management and the club management. The attorneys for both groups are all over the news here right now. The lead singer said this morning repeatedly that they perform plenty without any pyrotechnics and always get permission before they use it. The club management swears no one asked permission. This band has been around for 25 years with the same people...should be easy to check and see how professional they are about these things. |
Goddessatlaw | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:28 pm     I was looking at the Google stories on the club tragedy, and was unfortunate enough to come across a picture taken of the pileup at the front door - with smoke billowing over the top, the people seemingly still alive. I can't understand what kind of human being would stand there and take pictures while people are dying in front of them (war photographers excepted) instead of trying to help. Appalling. |
Bastable | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:31 pm     Car54, two clubs--one in NJ and one in FL--have already come out to say that recently, the band used pyrotechnics there without permission. Fact: No matter who's to blame, the patrons' safety was in the hands of hard-rock musicians and nightclub promoters. Neither one is really qualified to ensure crowd safety, and few cities have enough inspectors to make sure codes are being followed. |
Car54 | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:40 pm     Thanks Bastable, I haven't seen that report yet. I thought it would be pretty easy to check their history! They local news said the place was a tinderbox...all wood (a lot of our buildings are) and probably one steel beam in the whole place. The owner is actually a former Boston reporter. He recently moved to Warwick and owned the place with his brother. It must be very recent...he was on the early morning news here until just the past few months. The place is a pile of rubble now...just a few outside walls standing. I am thinking they are working hard to get all the evidence out they can because the weather is supposed to be driving rain all day tomorrow. |
Bastable | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:41 pm     GAL, I don't want to cast moral aspersions towards photojournalists. When I was a news reporter, I was at many crime scenes where police and fire officials specifically told me to keep away to let them do their jobs. I've seen video from what you're talking about, and there is a blue-shirted arm that comes up and blocks the way of the photographer from getting closer. I agree that many photojournalists can be callous, mercenary individuals. I think horrific scenes like that make them that way. There are plenty of people who would take pictures of their own mother walking the plank, but I don't think that's the case here, nor at most disaster scenes. There's also a common mandate among journalists to not be part of the story, and there's also the truth that if no one took pictures, there would be no record and therefore no warning--and such things could more easily happen again. There was also a famous case that John Pilger writes about where a mob was about to murder two young men in front of a photojournalist. The photographer had a real dilemma--it was only happening because there was a camera there and the rebels wanted to get publicity. So she put her camera down and walked away. They killed the men. And now there was no proof of who did it and so no way to obtain justice. |
Car54 | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:44 pm     The cameras were there because they were doing a piece on the club because of the fire in Chicago. They got out and the firemen would not let anyone back in- even people who wanted to try to go in and help. |
Crossfire | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 03:52 pm     Not to nitpick, and I apologize upfront, but the Chicago incident did not involve fire. It is another case where people got trapped in the doors trying to make an emergency exit. |
Cyn | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 04:00 pm     I hope that I didn't come across as trying to blame the club or the artists or the participants. I was only raising questions and trying to get across the necessity of funding for performance space access. This is a tragedy. All involved are suffering. |
Bastable | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 06:44 pm     The Smoking Gun has obtained Great White's concert contract, and it reports there is no mention of the use of pyrotechnics in its rider: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/doc_o_day.shtml What a shock! The Smoking Gun is getting to the bottom of stories much faster than the mainstream press does! Guess it's because they get down to business while other journalists re-hash. |
Crossfire | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 06:51 pm     Isn't that the truth Bastable. I saw that earlier, I found a mention of it in the blogosphere. Hang on here, aren't you a journalist? |
Hermione69 | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 07:00 pm     It all just makes me very sad. What a tragedy for all the family and friends of the victims. |
Bastable | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 07:07 pm     Yeah, Crossfire, but I'm a travel writer. I don't touch breaking news, even though I was trained to. I really admire The Smoking Gun. You'd be surprised how few journalists bother to go after primary sources like it does. Most journalists are lazy as Bajou hounds. |
Seamonkey | Friday, February 21, 2003 - 11:26 pm     I know that this nightclub and the Stone Pony owner say that they didn't know about the pyrotechnics, but I saw on one of the cable news networks that to be fair, they had also heard from owners of two other clubs and they said that the band DID ask permission, in one case it was granted, in the other is was not and the band complied with that. But some representative of the club should also be actively checking out the environment as well and it seems that they should maybe have been able to recognize the equipment. Also troubling is the highly flammable foam on the walls. I've heard conflicting reports that the club was over crowded, and others that it was not. The Smoking Gun often finds the dirt, but other than maybe giving some bits of news to court tv shows, they don't have to publish or report on tv or radio (at least not to my knowledge).. they just put it on the website and they also have an email notification list, but they aren't always all that fast with the email.. The photojournalist did get out but then he went around the building to see if he could help and did break a window where at least one person emerged. That fire was SO fast.. that footage should be required viewing for all of us. |
Max | Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 08:02 am     It seems to me that the club management is responsible for supervising the setup of any band. Typically, setup occurs hours before the club opens, doesn't it? Wouldn't a responsible club owner have SEEN that they were setting up pyrotechnics and, if they didn't think it was safe, SAID something? Just seems odd to me that they say they didn't know anything about the pyrotechnics. Doesn't ring true for me. ALl in all, though, this is just one sad, sad situation. |
Twiggyish | Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 08:12 am     They are claiming there were "under" 300 people in the club.. Ok, I'm doing my math here: 200 people injured 97 dead, plus all the people who were able to escape.hmmmmmmm Seems like someone isn't telling the truth. |
Bastable | Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 09:10 am     Max, fair enough. This whole blame game is pretty pointless. The fact is the band AND the club both had a hand in creating an environment that caused these deaths. It's so typical that the instant a thing like this happens, lawyers get involved and try to turn it into a black-or-white affair, with good guys or bad guys. The world is a lot more complicated than that. EVERYONE screwed up here, so finger-pointing is just a distraction. |
Ginger1218 | Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 09:59 am     Again Bastable, I agree with you on that point. Wow, twice in one day - amazing. |
Ginger1218 | Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 10:04 am     Also, this band has been around for a while. I am sure the people who hired them, have seen their act, and probably knew that there was a possibility of pyrotechnics being used. And the band should have checked seen kind of environment they were doing it in. Nobody is innocent in this one. |
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