SinisterUrge
🌀🌀…Spiral Out..🌀🌀
On February 22, 2003 the rock band Great White was scheduled to perform a show at a popular nightclub venue, The Station. The Station, located in West Warwick Rhode Island, opened in 1946. The wooden building was a local staple of live performances and a popular hang out. Because of the age and number of years in operation, the building was "grandfathered in" making it exempt from certain updates such as a sprinkler system.
That night, the small club was packed with 462 people (over capacity). Great White hit the stage and started playing their song "Desert Moon" with pyrotechnics roaring to life on stage at about 11:07pm which ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. It reached flashover within one minute, causing all combustible materials to burn. Intense black smoke engulfed the club within two minutes.
Most of the patrons rushed to exit the main entrance of the building. The long hallway, combined with doors that opened inward instead of outward, caused a massive pile up of bodies at the front door. Witnesses watched in horror as people piled on top of one another getting stuck half way out of the exit. People who were lucky to have made it outside started frantically trying to pull people out of the pile in front of the door in an effort to save them. Unfortunately it was too late.
Within 5 minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames.
The toxic smoke, heat, and the resulting human rush toward the main exit killed 100; 230 were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured. This fire was the 4th deadliest in a nightclub in U.S. history, and the second-deadliest in New England. It is surpassed only by the 1942 Coconut Grove fire which resulted in 492 deaths.
This video was taken right at the beginning of the show and kept shooting as the terrified patrons screamed and the flames roared.
You can watch the horrifying video following this link:
An intense investigation was conducted, charges were filed, trials were held, but nothing can bring back all those poor souls who were just looking for a fun night out and to listen to some great music. Rhode Island is a small state. Nearly everyone either knew someone who died or was at The Station that night (myself included.)
It was found that if there was a sprinkler system in the building, it would have given people enough time to get out. It's a terrible tragedy that could have been prevented.
A memorial honoring those who perished on that frigid February night now stands where the nightclub once stood.
God bless all the victims and their families.
That night, the small club was packed with 462 people (over capacity). Great White hit the stage and started playing their song "Desert Moon" with pyrotechnics roaring to life on stage at about 11:07pm which ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. It reached flashover within one minute, causing all combustible materials to burn. Intense black smoke engulfed the club within two minutes.
Most of the patrons rushed to exit the main entrance of the building. The long hallway, combined with doors that opened inward instead of outward, caused a massive pile up of bodies at the front door. Witnesses watched in horror as people piled on top of one another getting stuck half way out of the exit. People who were lucky to have made it outside started frantically trying to pull people out of the pile in front of the door in an effort to save them. Unfortunately it was too late.
Within 5 minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames.
The toxic smoke, heat, and the resulting human rush toward the main exit killed 100; 230 were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured. This fire was the 4th deadliest in a nightclub in U.S. history, and the second-deadliest in New England. It is surpassed only by the 1942 Coconut Grove fire which resulted in 492 deaths.
This video was taken right at the beginning of the show and kept shooting as the terrified patrons screamed and the flames roared.
You can watch the horrifying video following this link:
An intense investigation was conducted, charges were filed, trials were held, but nothing can bring back all those poor souls who were just looking for a fun night out and to listen to some great music. Rhode Island is a small state. Nearly everyone either knew someone who died or was at The Station that night (myself included.)
It was found that if there was a sprinkler system in the building, it would have given people enough time to get out. It's a terrible tragedy that could have been prevented.
A memorial honoring those who perished on that frigid February night now stands where the nightclub once stood.
God bless all the victims and their families.
