I
n November 1942, 492 people died in the Cocoanut Grove Fire. This tragedy was the catalyst for significant reforms to fire codes for places of public assembly and stricter enforcement of these codes. Sixty years later, on February 20, 2003, New England and the nation received a sobering reminder of what can happen when building owners and operators fail to follow building codes as well as when code enforcement fails to enforce codes properly. The deaths of 100 people at the Station Nightclub was the result of these and other factors. The fire was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American History.
The Station
The Station was a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The 4484 square foot building was built in 1946. It later was converted into a nightclub. In 2000 the club was purchase by brothers Michael and Jeffrey Derderian. The building did not have sprinklers. The investigation after the fire revealed that the building should have been required to have sprinklers installed when it was turned into a nightclub.
The Station was a venue for live music and hosted concerts by many heavy metal bands. The Station had been inspected by local code enforcement in November and December 2002. The November inspection resulted in nine minor violations. No violations were cited in the December inspection. Both inspections failed to cite the use of flammable polyurethane foam for soundproofing on the walls and ceiling around the stage.
The Fire
On the evening of Thursday, February 20, 2003, the Station’s headliner was the 80s metal band, Great White. More than 460 people were in the building at 11:08 p.m. when Great White took the stage. The crowd exceeded the building’s permitted capacity of 404. Great White’s show included a pyrotechnic display. When the band launched into their first song, the first pyrotechnic elements started. These were “gerbs,” which are fireworks that produce a fountain of sparks. These were set to burn for 15 seconds. Almost immediately, the sparks ignited the polyurethane foam soundproofing. About 20 seconds after the fireworks ended, the band stopped playing as the fire quickly took hold of the polyurethane foam and black smoke began to bank down from the ceiling. Within a minute, the entire stage was engulfed in flames. Less than 40 seconds after the fire started, the club’s fire alarm sounded.
The start of the fire, and the next six minutes of horror were caught on video by a cameraman from a Providence television station. Ironically, he was there to get footage for a news piece on nightclub safety in the wake of a nightclub stampede in Chicago that had killed 21 people on February 17.
Initially, there was no panic and people started heading towards the exits. Unfortunately, most of the crowd went towards the main entrance to exit the building and did not attempt to use the three other exits. The design of the main entrance forced people to push through an intermediate door, which opened into a small foyer where the main doors were located. A bottleneck quickly formed at the main entrance. The foyer proved to be a trap for members of the now panicked crowd. The lights went out within a minute. The fire flashed over within 90 seconds of ignition.
The Response
The first 911 call was within a minute of the start of the fire. The West Warwick Fire Department responded with four engines and its tower ladder. West Warwick Engine 4 arrived on scene within about four minutes of the first 911 call. By that time, the building was fully involved and flames were roaring out the front door. This rapid response was for naught. As with other fires with great loss of life, death came quicker than the fire department ever could.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted a recreation of the fire in the controlled conditions of a lab. This confirmed that the rapidly burning polyurethane foam soundproofing took just 90 seconds to fill the building with toxic and superheated smoke. NIST also conducted several computer simulations as part of its investigation. According to one of these, temperatures in the building at five feet above the floor exceeded 800 degrees within 90 seconds after the start of the fire.
According to the NIST report, “Given the hazardous mix of materials in The Station and the lack of installed sprinklers, nothing that the fire department could have done that night would have saved the building from the fast growing fire.”
A minute after the arrival of the first engine, the Warwick Task Force was activated calling seven additional units under mutual aid from the City of Warwick. Within ten minutes of the arrival of the first engine, a mass casualty incident was declared and the Rhode Island Mass Casualty Disaster Plan was activated. Additional mutual aid was summoned pursuant to the Southern New England Fire Emergency Assistance Plan. This included units from Warwick, Cranston and Coventry. Approximately 60 ambulances responded. They transported 186 victims to several hospitals over the course of two hours. The total response included 583 fire, police and EMS responders.
The Aftermath
The sun on February 21 rose over the charred ruins of what was The Station. At that point it was unknown how many victims would be found. During the recovery effort, 31 victims were be found in the front entrance and lobby. Just inside the second set of doors, 27 more bodies were found. As the recovery efforts continues through the morning the death toll rose steadily. The last body was recovered by noon. By the end of the day the official death toll was 96. More than 230 were injured. Of these, four would die from their injuries bringing the death toll to 100. Over the next four days officials identified all of the remains of the victims.
In December 2003, the club’s owners and the tour manager who set off the pyrotechnics were indicted for involuntary manslaughter. Great White's tour manager, Daniel Michael Biechele, pleaded guilty in February 2006, three months before his trial was scheduled to begin. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Biechele sent handwritten letters to the families of each of the 100 victims before his release from prison in 2008. In September 2006, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian changed their pleas to no contest. Michael Derderian was sentenced to four years in prison. Jeffrey Derderian was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.
The scope of the tragedy was much larger than the death toll. One-hundred families lost a loved one. Most all of the survivors, even those who were not injured physically, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Today, many still suffer from PTSD. First responders also were impacted deeply by the terrible loss of life.
The Station Fire was the deadliest event in Rhode Island history. This tragedy brought together the local community and the State. The families of the victims of the fire and many of the survivors worked together to raise funds for a proper memorial for the victims of the fire. In May 2017, the Station Fire Memorial Park was dedicated on the site of the fire. The park is open to the public.
In memory of those who lost their lives on February 20, 2003,
at the Station Nightclub Fire.
Louis S. Alves - Kevin Anderson
Stacie J. Angers - Christopher Arruda
Eugene Avilez - Tina Ayer
Mary H. Baker - Thomas A. Barnett
Laureen M. Beauchaine - Steven Thomas Blom
William Christopher Bonardi, III - Kristine Carbone
William W. Cartwright - Mike Cordier
Alfred Carmino Crisostomi - Robert Croteau
Lisa D'Andrea - Matthew P. Darby
Dina Ann DeMaio - Rachael Florio DePietro
Albert DiBonaventura - Christina DiRienzo
Kevin J. Dunn - Lori Durante
Edward Everett Ervanian - Charline E. Fick
Thomas Fleming - Mark A. Fontaine
Daniel J. Fredrickson - Michael A. Fresolo
James C. Gahan - Melvin Gerfin Jr.
Laura L. Gillett - Michael J. Gonsalves
James F. Gooden Jr. - Derek Gray
Scott C. Greene - Scott Griffith
Jude Henault - Andrew Hoban
Abbie L. Hoisington - Michael Hoogasian
Sandy Hoogasian - Carlton L. Howorth III
Eric J. Hyer - Derek Brian Johnson
Lisa Kelly - Tracy King
Michael Joseph Kulz - Keith Lapierre
Dale L. Latulippe - Stephen Libera
John Longiaru - Ty Longley
Judith Manzo - Andrea Louise Mancini
Keith Anthony Mancini - Steve Mancini
Thomas Marion Jr. - Jeffrey W. Martin
Tammy Mattera-Housa - Kristen McQuarrie
Thomas Medeiros - Samuel J. Miceli Jr.
Donna Mitchell - Leigh Ann Moreau
Ryan M. Morin - Jason Morton
Beth Mosczynski - Katherine O'Donnell
Nicholas O'Neill - Matthew James Pickett
Christopher Prouty - Jeffrey Rader
Theresa Rakoski - Robert Reisner
Walter Rich - Donald Roderiques
Tracey Romanoff - Joseph Rossi
Bridget Sanetti - Becky Shaw
Mitchell C. Shubert - Dennis Smith
Victor Stark - Benjamin J. Suffoletto Jr.
Shawn Patrick Sweet - Jason Sylvester
Sarah Jane Telgarsky - Kelly Vieira
Kevin R. Washburn - Everett Thomas Woodmansee, III
Robert Young
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