sassa Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 At least 65 killed in R.I. club fire About 160 hurt, some critically, as fireworks go awry at show NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES WEST WARWICK, R.I., Feb. 21 — Fire engulfed a Rhode Island nightclub during a rock concert’s fireworks display, killing at least 65 people, authorities said Friday. About 160 people were injured, some critically, as concertgoers frantically rushed to escape the raging fire and smoke. The tragedy came four days after 21 people were killed during a stampede in a Chicago nightclub. RHODE ISLAND Gov. Don Carcieri told reporters that the confirmed death toll had risen to 65. “They’re still pulling bodies out,†he added after touring the site. “How many more? We don’t know,†said town Manager Wolfgang Bauer. Earlier, Fire Chief Charles Hall told NBC’s “Today†show that firefighters were sifting through the burned out one-story, wood building for victims and possible survivors. Hall said the club had recently passed a fire inspection, but did not have a permit for fireworks. There was no sprinkler system but those aren’t required in buildings the size of the club. The entire club was consumed by flames within three minutes, said Hall. The hard rock band Great White had just started playing when giant sparklers on stage began shooting up and ignited the ceiling above the band. The fire quickly spread over the crowd, filling the building with thick, black smoke. Unlike the Chicago stampede, where overcrowding and blocked exits contributed to the tragedy, Hall said the Rhode Island club did not appear to be overcrowded or have blocked exits. Most of the bodies were found near the front exit, some of them burned and others dead from smoke inhalation, Hall 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.†Concertgoer Jack Rezendes of Jamestown confirmed that, saying he escaped by going the other way. “I saw everyone going to one spot to get out and I went around and broke out a window and climbed through it,†he said. SLOW EVACUATION The blaze broke out about 11 p.m. at The Station in West Warwick, about 15 miles southwest of Providence. Concertgoer John Schmidt told “Today†that many people were slow to evacuate because it initially looked as if the fire was part of the show. A TV news crew inside the club doing a follow-up story to the Chicago fire filmed part of the tragedy before escaping. “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,†said WPRI-TV cameraman Brian Butler. “They just wanted out of the building.†Butler kept his camera rolling as he rushed from the club’s front door; once outside, he ran around to the back, capturing thick black smoke and flames rolling through that exit. Michelle Malardo of Coventry, R.I., said people screamed and stomped on each other as they tried to squeeze through the club’s front door. “They were jumping all over each other and they were on fire,†Malardo said. Robin Petrarca of Warwick said the band had just started playing when the sparklers began shooting toward the ceiling, igniting the roof and wall. “I never saw anything like it in my life,†she said, wrapped in a blue blanket across the street from the fire. She said she was within 5 feet of the door, but the billowing smoke was so thick, she couldn’t see the exit. In the rush to escape, she fell and was trampled, but made it out moments later. “I never knew a place could burn so fast,†she said. “There was nothing they could do, it went up so fast.†19 ON LIFE SUPPORT More than 160 people were taken to area hospitals including Rhode Island Hospital in Providence and Kent County Memorial Hospital in nearby Warwick. At Rhode Island Hospital, Dr. William Cioffi told “Today†that 19 victims were in critical condition and on life support. Firefighters worked into the morning 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 of West Warwick, who was waiting to hear about a friend who was missing. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.†SOME 300 IN CLUB Hundreds of firefighters and police from across the region and dozens of ambulances went to the scene. Rescuers pulled badly injured victims from the fire as ladder trucks poured water over the flaming skeleton of the building. Paul Vanner, the club’s sound technician and stage manager, said more than 300 people had been at the concert. Jack Russell, the lead singer of Great White, told NBC affiliate WJAR-TV that he checked with the club’s manager before the show and that the band’s use of fireworks was approved. Russell said he started dousing the fire with a water bottle but couldn’t extinguish it, then all the lights went out. “I just couldn’t believe how fast it went up,†he said. Among the missing was band guitarist Ty Longley. 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 deadly U.S. club disaster in four days. Early, Sunday, 21 people were killed and more than 50 injured during a stampede in a Chicago nightclub that began when a security guard used pepper spray to break up a fight. The blaze was the deadliest U.S. fire since nearly 80 people died in the 1993 inferno at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. 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msoprano Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 fucking horrible...how could somone allow a fire show inside a club...espcially a small one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallflour Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 The death toll will probably rise as time goes on and more bodies are found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcid21 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Originally posted by msoprano13 fucking horrible...how could somone allow a fire show inside a club...espcially a small one.... seriously....wtf... now there's even MORE negative attention directed in clubland's way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFTunnel76 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Its up to 75 killed. I think its pretty safe to say... Pyro technics will be barred from indoor clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallflour Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Does anyone else here have parents telling you not to go to clubs, because of this (and the Chicago) incident? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassa Posted February 21 Author Report Share Posted February 21 no, my parents stopped telling me what to do when i moved out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooklynkid Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 Originally posted by sassa no, my parents stopped telling me what to do when i moved out... :laugh: Not to make light of the situation, but with a crowd that goes to see an 80's rock band like that, you know all that hairspray must have had something to do with the fire spreading so fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassa Posted February 21 Author Report Share Posted February 21 Originally posted by brooklynkid :laugh: Not to make light of the situation, but with a crowd that goes to see an 80's rock band like that, you know all that hairspray must have had something to do with the fire spreading so fast. loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool ...good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zz6 Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 very very sad... now 95 and expected to be more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cessy Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 that was so sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbbooom Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 95 dead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxeyecandi Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 lol, but seriously i think this shit should at least prompt some ny clubs to examine their emergency evacuation plans, there have been some times at various clubs that were so packed beyond the max occupancy by far that i know many would die if a fire or something else broke out...btw- my mother called me after reading these articles and said "just keep going to clubs darling" in a very sarcastic tone...oh well off to pvd soon:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuturephunk Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 . . My boss actually called me and told me to be careful .. .He heard me mention that I was going downtown this weekend... . . thats so fucked up what happened .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkFloyd40 Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 horrible.. and the video was being played nonstop today.. no matter what channel i turned to it seemed inescapable.. just realized my word choice there.. inescapable.. how ironic.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheendawg Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Originally posted by sxeyecandi lol, but seriously i think this shit should at least prompt some ny clubs to examine their emergency evacuation plans, there have been some times at various clubs that were so packed beyond the max occupancy by far that i know many would die if a fire or something else broke out...btw- my mother called me after reading these articles and said "just keep going to clubs darling" in a very sarcastic tone...oh well off to pvd soon:D LMAO!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallflour Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 I think the recent events did have something to do with the cops "closing" Roxy (for a short while), which I'm sure you'll read about in other threads or hear about. also, I heard something about Made Events selling 500 more tickets than max capacity. I guess that is helpful for latecomers, but not if everyone is coming at the same time.Was there any spillover into Arc as a result?Or did they have any problems of their own? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msoprano Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Originally posted by davidstone It's honestly too bad.RIP Great White Fans.Why couldn't this have happened at a Danny Howells concert. ..fate and her twisted games youre an asshole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somebitch Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Originally posted by msoprano13 fucking horrible...how could somone allow a fire show inside a club...espcially a small one.... they didnt allow it. the band did it without permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msoprano Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Originally posted by somebitch they didnt allow it. the band did it without permission. when i made this comment it was right after the fire and no one knew any details....but still the band says they had permission and the club said they didnt..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nycchic24 Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 my gf works in the ICU at Mass General (boston ) and was on shift that night. They flew/choppered alot of hte burn victims up there. SHe said it was the most horrific thing she had ever seen (note: she hsa been a nurse for 5 years now) she said, "they may have been lucky to surivive the fire, but once many of these people wake up (many are in comas) theya re not going to want to live. it is so catastrophic that now their whole life will be centered on their burns, scars, ...." as of today there are still two unidentified persons in her hosiptal (burned beyond recognition!) and there are still more "Jane/JOhn Doe's" in other hospitals in the new england area. ONe of my other friends knows one of the survivors, and said that it is almost unbearable to look at him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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