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. One hundred people died, and hundreds more suffered. Since he co-owned The Station nightclub with his brother Michael Derderian, Jeff suggested it as a venue for generic nightclub footage. For more information, please see our '", 15 years after the deadly Station Nightclub fire https://t.co/ApQgkrkI7A pic.twitter.com/tytNEKAX5F. The Station nightclub fire, where 100 people died and hundreds more were hurt, will never be forgotten by those who were there or lost loved ones that February night. Del Sesto said her life is told in three chapters now. Woman cries during a memorial service for victims of the 2003 fire at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, RI on May 21, 2017. At 55, he lives with his parents and keeps to himself. New fire-safety regulations became law in July, requiring sprinklers in more Rhode Island businesses and banning pyro almost everywhere, but some business owners in the state have balked, citing the cost of improvements. Lead singer Jack Russell said, Wow . In May 2000, the Derderians had paid a visit to Barry Warner, who lived close to The Station and had repeatedly complained about its noise under previous owners. According to Boston.com, Since being sent to prison, Michael Derderian has been disciplined for breaking the rules at his work release job and in prison. I did not lead them out, he said dismissively. The Derderians assured Warner of their hope that he would not be disturbed. The Station Fire Memorial Foundation procured the land known as the Station Site on September 28, 2012 through a gracious donation. The band halted. Thinking it part of the show, people shouted, Its great!. The Derderians purchased The Station in March 2000 from Howard Julian and signed a lease with the Raymond Villanova realty company to rent the property. Its irrelevant.. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. That effort raised about $10,000 over seven years to help pay for the construction of the memorial park. He turned back to see the crowd bottle-necked at the stage. Im so sorry for what Ive done and I dont want to cause anyone any more pain. Victoria Eagan, who had walked to the Station from her home a block away, had been a couple of rows from the stage when the fire began. Lexipol. Firefighter and RI state Rep. talks trauma. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Sunday marks 19 years since a fire tore through The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200 others. I will never forget that night and I will never forget the people that were hurt by it. But has prevention actually improved? 00:50. In the aftermath, Vanner battled an addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol, which he used to cope but which cost him jobs and his drivers license. At 11:07 p.m., as the band launched into its opener . On Feb. 20, 2003, 100 people were killed and more than 200 others were injured in a fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time The first was her life before Feb. 20, 2003. WEST WARWICK, R.I. The Station nightclub fire, where 100 people died and hundreds more were hurt, will never be forgotten by those who were there or lost loved ones that February night. Vanner spoke about how his life derailed after 11:07 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2003. she said. There were four exits but most people scrambled for the front door through which they had entered. "There was nothing heroic about what I did.". If it had been people at the opera that night, there would have been a big difference.. How tragedy inspired one member of Great White: After the fire, Mark Kendall, guitarist for Great White, drew close to some survivors, and relatives and friends of those who died and were injured. Robin Petrarca was in New York City three weeks ago, looking for some laughs in a comedy club. Hundreds witness groundbreaking for Station fire memorial: Cradling fresh flowers in the frigid cold, several hundred people gathered at the site of The Station nightclub fire on the 10th-anniversary service that included a groundbreaking for a permanent memorial and remembrances for the 100 lives lost. Death and Injury from Trampling, Fire, and Smoke Inhalation On the evening of February 20th, 2003, hundreds of people had filled The Station Nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island. Another 230 people were injured in what ranks as the nations fourth-deadliest nightclub fire. On Feb. 20, 2003, hundreds of people were packed into the Station nightclub when the '80s rock group Great White took the small stage. The fire took her left ear, although the eardrum remains intact, and Russos hearing is fine. Station nightclub fire casts shadow over friends, families 20 years after. Brothers and owners of The Station. Sparks had ignited flammable foam that soundproofed the walls. Vanner doesn't know when the night will be over. Two of the five friends she arrived with suffered serious. Gina Russo, 36, a chatty single mother of two small boys, passed out from the black smoke and never saw who pulled her out of the crush of bodies piled up like cordwood at the clubs main entrance. She endured more than 50 operations. Joe Kinan was badly burned in the deadly Station Nightclub fire in Rhode Island that left 100 dead and 230 injured in February 2003 . As were going down the stairs to get into the comedy club, in the heart of Times Square, the first thought that goes through my mind: I come back and look and go: Are there two exits down there? she said. Brothers Michael and Jeffery Derderian, who owned The Station nightclub, for using highly flammable polyurethane foam as soundproofing on the walls of the club and for letting 462 people into a building, bringing it over capacity. . She wore a spaghetti-strap top so he could see her scars. . She said she spent years after that in pain and anger. It was a lethal combination, a perfect storm of events that led up to catastrophe. While many say they. I would see the burn survivors, whom Im lucky enough to call friends, Del Sesto said. the Station Nightclub invoked a swift response from government and non-governmental agencies including code developing bodies. She took a photograph of the stone of a man who died and sent it to his daughter in California. 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. At the time that the fire began there were reportedly over 440 occupants in the club. They would want to talk, she said, and they wouldnt freak. A longtime fan, she went to Pennsylvania to see the band perform again eight months after the fire and ended up joining the lead singer, Jack Russell, on stage. The night of the fire, hundreds of people gathered at The Station to see Great White, an 80s band now with some new members lead by singer Jack Russell and known mainly for their hit "Once. The Derderians are on a 'white-wash tour' in 2021 about The Station fire, says father who lost son: Over the yearsDave Kanehas had to find a place to storehisoutrage overlosing his18-year-oldson, Nicholas, in The Station nightclub firein 2003. "They would want to talk," she said, "and they wouldn't freak. A band that was performing that night used pyrotechnics that ignited polyurethane foam insulation lining the walls and ceiling of the stage platform. The Station fire:A Timeline of the tragedy, More:Should PTSD qualify for injured-on-duty status? From the Bush administration, which has a pattern of ignoring the needs of states that vote Democratic, has come almost no direct aid at all just a few hundred thousand dollars for non-medical expenses. But with last springs dedication of the memorial on the old nightclub site, Del Sesto said she thinks she has found a way not to forget, but to live with the memories. Today she is president of the Station Fire Memorial Foundation, the group that oversaw the construction of the memorial park. We talk about fire safety a bit, I dont get too, too far into it.. They all say I never would have stopped it, and I probably wouldnt have. The 4,484 square foot, mostly wood interior, club was set at a 420 person capacity. "It made me realize, I might be only one person, but my story and my injuries were making people listen," she said. Even if he couldn't. Biechele and Great White, the Derderian brother, Larocque and the town of West Warwick plus a host of others figured into lawsuits that led to a payout of $176 million to those who were injured and the families of those who died. Like many in a small state where news travels fast, the Providence-based lawyer had already heard about the previous night's fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I.he knew about the pyrotechnics gone terribly wrong, the flaming wall of soundproofing, and the deadly . Taking her students to the memorial park and telling them what it means were ways of building that memory, she said. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) asserted a. She said she spent years after that in pain and anger. He gave them to the Probation Department that contacted the families to distribute these letters. For everyone who was involved, the memories still haunt them. "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]. Help us to give the victims the only gift within our . Firefighters and rescue personnel remove one of the fatalities from the nightclub The Station in West Warwick, RI on Feb. 21, 2003. "I had the fire extinguisher in my hand," Vanner said. Petrarca remembers one of the "most beautiful moments" she's had. The dead were found mostly crowded by the entrance and in the bathroom. Editors picks Her fianc, Alfred Freddy Crisostomi, who was behind her, pushing her toward the door, perished. Vanner wonders whether he could have saved them. The main exit becomes clogged with a pile of clubgoers who had tripped in the surge. Station owners silent as fire's 10th anniversary nears: The Derderian brothers, who purchased the West Warwick, R.I., nightclub in 2000 with hopes of making it a thriving business, still draw anger, and resentment from victims, and their families. This book is actually an autobiography of one of the victims of Rhode Island's Station Nightclub fire. Melinda was eight months pregnant at the time. William Adams offers an initial look at the dispatch and response to the Station Night Club fire in West Warwick, RI. He refused to talk with reporters and entered an automobile driven by a lawyer. Skin grafts make them itch, like junkies attacking their scabs if their fingers work at all. A handful of defendants have settled, offering a tentative total of about $71.5 million. Taking her students to the memorial park and telling them what it means were ways of building that memory, she said. 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. Donovan Williams, a survivor who was burned over 70 percent of his body and was left legally blind, said he was counting on settlements from the lawsuit to really help people move on. It was there, she said, that she found the best therapists: others who had been in the fire. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. The burns werent killing her; it was the damage done by smoke to her lungs. Carcieri said 81 victims from the blaze that consumed The Station music club in West Warwick late Thursday night are too badly burned for visual identification. Last year, he was charged with striking a woman for whom he was a caretaker. I needed for that day to come, she said. Jeffrey Derderian was sentenced to community service. Across from the former Station nightclub site in West Warwick, R.I., a circle of crosses form a makeshift memorial to the 100 who died in a fire five years ago. (WPRI) Carlton Howorth III, known as "Buddy," was one of the 100 people who died inside the Station nightclub fire. firefighter pleads guilty to 3 counts of manslaughter, is sentenced to probation, LODD: Mich. firefighter dies after coming into contact with power line, NYPD: Burglar climbs through window of FDNY firehouse, fights with 2 firefighters, Open the tools menu in your browser. Within minutes the building was engulfed in flame and toxic smoke as the highly flammable polyurethane foam glued to the nightclubs walls as soundproofing ignited. 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. I didnt survive to sit home on the couch and cry, she said. It was crowded, and it was getting bad. Fifteen years since that terrible night. In the aftermath, West Warwick, Rhode Island TV news reporter Jeff Derderian wanted to run a story on nightclub safety. 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. On the evening of November 28, 1942, a massive fire broke out in a popular Boston nightclub known as the Cocoanut Grove. Her bill was $646 that month, she said. Kinan had . The Top 25 Music DVDs Worth Rewatching Her father has seven brothers, Pimentel said, and she was especially close to Carlos. 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. The Feb. 20, 2003 . Copyright 2023 The fire spread quickly along the ceiling area over the dance floor. WEST WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - Saturday marks the 18-year anniversary of the Station Nightclub fire that left lasting scars on numerous families and the state of Rhode Island. Fire safety work goes on: Advocates gather at Station memorial to mark tax law easing cost of sprinklers. They died here, Jody King said of the100 people who died. Russo hung on and, with the help of a new type of ventilator, began to improve. The Station fire changed how we view fire safety. Many of the victims . One hundred people died, and hundreds more suffered. 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