At 11:07 p.m. on the 20th of February 2003 at the Station Nightclub in West
Warwick, Rhode Island, pyrotechnics used as part of a concert by the hard rock
band Great White set fire to acoustic foam surrounding the stage. The flames
spread with incredible speed. As patrons rushed to escape exits became jammed. All
in all 100 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured and
traumatized, all in the space of just a few short minutes. The fire started just
seconds into the band's opening song. Pyrotechnics designed to create a
controlled shower of sparks had been set up on either side of the stage. Two
fountains were directed straight up and two were angled off at 45 degrees. As
Great White took to the stage and launched into their song "Desert Moon",
tour manager Daniel Biechele triggered these pyrotechnics.
It was the angled fountains that were principally responsible for igniting the
acoustic foam which surrounded the stage. Video of the incident shows the fire
taking hold, reaching the ceiling in a matter of seconds. Patrons were
initially slow to evacuate. This may have been because they believed that the fire
was part of the act. The music video for the song which the
band were playing showed the musicians surrounded by flames. Not long after the
pyrotechnics ended, though, the band ceased to play, and the lead vocalist
Jack Russell calmly spoke into the microphone while looking at the blaze.
"That's not good," he said. The band members fled the nightclub via
an exit beside the stage. Realizing the danger they were in the crowd began to
evacuate as well. The Station Nightclub had several exits but most patrons were
unfamiliar with the layout of the building and so flocked towards the main
entrance and exit. The narrow corridor leading up to this door was swiftly
jammed with bodies. 462 people were in the building when the fire began - 58 more
than the venue's official capacity. In the chaotic rush to escape
many people were trampled. The main exit became clogged completely with bodies
with patrons wedged in so tight that even those who had already escaped
couldn't pull them free. In addition to the deaths caused by crushing and
trampling many also died from smoke inhalation. The acoustic foam gave off a
dense, opaque, toxic smoke when it burned, which not only made it extremely
difficult to navigate the building but also caused death after just a few
breaths. In total 100 people died on scene as a result of crush related
injuries, smoke inhalation, and from burns from the fire itself. Among the dead were
Ty Longley, the lead guitarist of Great White. It is reported that he initially
escaped unscathed but, miscalculating the severity of the fire, returned to the
building to try and rescue his guitar. Ty Longley was the only member of the band
to perish in the fire. The other members of Great White escaped through a door
adjacent to the stage - a door which at least some audience members were
prevented from using by a bouncer who stated adamantly that the exit was for
the band only.
With so many dead and the nightclub destroyed thoughts turned to who to
blame for the disaster. The nightclub owners said they did not give permission
for the band to use pyrotechnics. Band members claimed they did have permission.
Meanwhile an investigation revealed that fire safety inspectors should long ago
have demanded the installation of a sprinkler system into the ancient
building. The two brothers who owned the nightclub and Great White's manager were
charged with 200 counts of manslaughter each: two for each victim, as it was alleged
that they had committed both criminal negligence manslaughter and misdemeanor
manslaughter. While the nightclub owners pleaded not guilty, Great White's manager
Daniel Biechele pled guilty, stating that he wished the investigation to be over
quickly so that the families of the victims could achieve closure. Biechele
was sentenced to four years in prison with an additional suspended sentence.
Many of the families of the deceased were supportive of him, with some even
writing letters that noted their forgiveness and asking for him to be
freed from prison. He was released after serving just two years in jail. The two
nightclub owners were given similar sentences, with one of them facing four
years in jail and the other three years of probation. The difference in their
sentences was down to the different levels of responsibility they each had
for the purchase and installation of the flammable foam. Numerous civil suits
worked their way slowly through the courts, with the largest resulting in a
settlement of 25 million dollars from a company that manufactured the foam. Five
months after the fire Great White went on a benefit tour. They began each set
with a prayer for those who had lost their lives in the fire, and donated a
portion of their proceeds to a fund to support the surviving relatives. For many
years they refused to play the song they had been playing when the fire began,
but eventually added it to their repertoire again in 2009.
The site of the fire was cleared and survivors and loved ones of the deceased
left numerous crosses as memorials to the dead. A permanent memorial was
eventually erected on the site, and it is now a park which sees a memorial service
on the 20th of February each year. While the fire was a terrible and costly one
it did result in an almost instant improvement in fire safety across the
board. A moratorium was placed on the use of pyrotechnics in small venues and
many nightclubs undertook programs of rapid improvements to bring their
premises up to code. While the 100 music lovers who died during the Station
Nightclub fire might have died unnecessarily, their deaths - at least - were
not in vain.