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Week one • Week two • Week three • Week four • Aftermath • Anniversary
Complete Providence Journal coverage (reg. req.)
Updated 3.07.2003
There probably won't be any more updates here till at least mid-week,
as I'll be off staff for a few days.
Updated Partial
list of victims.
Fla.
man injured in nightclub fire dies: Mitchell C. (Mitch) Shubert,
39, of Newberry, Fla., died at 1:10 p.m. yesterday at Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston, becoming the 99th fatality in the fire. From the Gainesville
(Fla.) Sun,
Shubert suffered numerous burns and scarring in his lungs as he tried
to flee from The Station, the one-story wooden nightclub where the 1980s
heavy metal rock band Great White was performing. The fire took 98 other
lives.
Shubert was aware enough after being injured in the fire to remember
his phone number and gave it to hospital staff, his father said in an
earlier interview.
Shubert's condition has gone up and down in the past few weeks. He
had been placed in a medically induced coma, had been on dialysis, had
suffered swelling in his stomach and had undergone skin grafts.
"He had so much organ damage, his kidneys were struggling, his
heart was struggling, his lungs were struggling. It was too much for
his system," Walter Shubert said. "He was doing good until
yesterday and he just went down hill."
In
an earlier account from the same paper, Shubert's father said it was
the first time his son had been out to a club in eight years. His son's
church -- ironically named The Rock Church -- in Gainesville is collecting
donations.
There's a
photo of Shubert here.
Bands
rock at fundraiser for Station regulars: (reg. req.) Yesterday's
big snowstorm kept many indoors who might have gone to the big benefit
at the West Valley Inn last night. Providence Journal features reporter
Bryan Rourke was among those who did plow through the powder to West Warwick
to see 11 bands perform:
This concert happened not in a nightclub, but a big banquet hall with
three lighted and unobstructed exits, a fire alarm, sprinklers and emergency
lighting. The day before, the state fire marshal declared the room could
accommodate 452 people.
About 100 gathered. All felt fortunate. These were Station regulars.
Grace
notes: Requiem for lost dreams. Writing in the Providence
Phoenix, Bob Gulla focuses on the musicians at the fire -- in the audience
as well as on the stage:
So many of them had dreams -- dreams of a good life, of getting ahead
at work, making some money, serving as a good role model to their kids.
So many loved music. Many had the dream of becoming a rock star.
The fire consumed those dreams at the Station two weeks ago, the way
it devoured the building. As it did so, that hungry wave of flames seared
the soul of our local music scene.
Gulla helps flesh out the story of some lives cut way too short.
3.06.2003
11:59 a.m. Benefit still on tonight: An email just arrived from
Sean Sands of Rattlehead Records, organizer of tonight's benefit for the
fire victims and their families at the West Valley Inn. Here it is:
Despite what appears to be a blizzard forming, and despite the number
of jittery phone calls we've gotten... the Station benefit at The West
Valley Inn tonight is still on....
Make no mistake; this event will not be rescheduled to a later date.
Too many people came together under adverse conditions to make this
happen today, it can only happen once or not at all. Please don't let
a little snow scare you; it'll be warm inside tonight. Besides; it snowed
a little for Great White's show and it didn't stop anyone then, did
it?
Details: West
Valley Inn, West Warwick (401) 822-2834. 6pm - 11:30pm; silence at
11:10. $10 minimum; all proceeds going to the State victim's fund. All
ages invited. Flyer.
Who's playing: Every regular, "house" band of the Station that
Rattlehead Records could find in a week. All these bands were placed on
the bill by the Station's booking manager himself or have played the club
more than 8 times in the past year: Acid Rain Revival, Bonnis Herd, Digital
Ruin, Emery Vesch, Fungus Amongus, The Hype, Point .08, Slugworth, Sonnet,
Train of Thought, Wiseguys.
11:55 a.m.
Rock
and a Hard Place in R.I.: A great story in yesterday's Washington
Post about West Warwick, and the rock spirit that stays alive in a town
that glory passed by.
Pyros
on tour: Newsday reports, "... an inquiry by Nassau fire
officials found that Great White, the band performing when the Rhode Island
club caught fire, set off fireworks at Mulcahy's, a Wantagh (N.Y.) club,
five days before the incident in West Warwick. Such a display is illegal
under Town of Hempstead codes that prohibit indoor pyrotechnics."
Concert
to benefit child of fire victim: From The Orange County (Calif.)
Register,
ANAHEIM - Local heavy metal bands will come together tonight for a
concert benefiting the daughter of former O.C. musician Scott Griffith,
who was one of the 98 people killed in a Rhode Island nightclub fire
on Feb. 20.
Night Fall and StepChild, bands for which Griffith played lead guitar,
will perform at Loffler's with special guest Mike Starr, the bassist
for Alice in Chains. All proceeds will go to Kacie Griffith, 13, who
was staying with friends the night her father went to the Great White
concert at The Station nightclub.
R.I. astrologer
Carolyn Egan looks at Great
White's Jack Russell (his birthdate and time are on
his site). It's spooky, and not pretty.
3.04.2003
Spaghetti & meatballs dinner benefit: The Phenix Sportsman's Club,
715 Main Street, West Warwick; Sunday March 9 from 1 - 5p.m. Tickets,
$6 adults, $3 children. The club lost two members in the fire. More info:
821-9659.
WHJY
has posted audio of Saturday night's tribute to Mike Gonsalves
("Dr. Metal") (reg.req. to listen)
Garrison Keillor has written a song about the fire called White
Flash. Lyrics.
Listen
(RealAudio).
3rd-degree
burn victim, 80, offers hope to Station survivors: From the Narragansett
Times,
WAKEFIELD - It's been more than 50 years since Joseph Laurie received
third-degree burns from his hips down to his toes, and while the experience
scarred his legs and left him virtually bed-ridden for six months in
South County Hospital, the accident did not break his will to live.
After hearing about the fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick,
which claimed the lives of 98 and injured 187, Laurie, 80, hopes his
experi-ence will help survivors who suffered burns in the tragedy.
"I want to give them hope," he said in an interview last Thursday.
"Never give up hope, always think positive."
United
Way distributes funds to fire victims and their families: From
the Pawtucket Times,
The United Way distributed $153,000 of the $540,000 raised so far to
victims and families of The Station fire as of Monday night. ... The
funds that have been distributed so far have gone toward funeral expenses,
rent or mortgage payments and transportation needs.
3.04.2003
Robert Rager of Kent, Ohio, was hired by Great White
as sound man for the tour, There's a
photo of Rager at roadie.net. His friends at Harpo's in Detroit (he
was their regular sound man when not touring),
have a page for him. Warrant
guitarist Billy Morris is holding a benefit for Rager and his family
at the HI-FI Club in Lakewood Ohio, tomorrow (Wednesday, March 5). Rager
is at Brigham & Women's Hostpital, Boston, in good condition.
Great
White guitarist's fans pay him final tribute: (link
fixed) The rock critic of the Cleveland Plain Dealer covers Ty
Longley's funeral:
Max Schang, Longley's first guitar teacher, led a band of local musicians
who performed reflective renditions of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing,"
Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" and other songs.
Wrongful
Death Lawsuits Filed After Nightclub Fire -- Associated
Press. Brian Cunha sues 14 people -- including club owners Michael and
Jeffrey Derderian, members of the band, the band's management company,
West Warwick Fire Inspector Denis Larocque and American Foam Corp., the
Johnston company where the club bought highly flammable foam to use for
soundproofing -- on behalf of the families of Tina Ayer, 33, of Warwick,
and Donald Rodriques, 46 of Fall River, Mass., two of the 98 people who
died in the Feb. 20 fire.
Vannin'.com
bids farewell to Linda and Benjamin Suffoletto. Benjamin died
at the scene of the fire, Linda lingered at Mass. General Hospital till
Saturday.
3.03.03
4:15 Benefit news: As we expected, some benefits have been postponed
while clubs close to make safety renovations. Still on:
Thursday, March 6
West Valley
Inn, West Warwick (401) 822-2834. 6pm - 11:30pm; silence at 11:10.
$10 minimum; all proceeds going to the State victim's fund. All ages
invited. Flyer.
Who's playing: Every regular, "house" band of the Station
that Rattlehead Records could find in a week. All these bands were placed
on the bill by the Station's booking manager himself or have played
the club more than 8 times in the past year: Acid Rain Revival, Bonnis
Herd, Digital Ruin, Emery Vesch, Fungus Amongus, The Hype, Point .08,
Slugworth, Sonnet, Train of Thought, Wiseguys.
Sunday, March 9:
Brooksie's.
616 Smithfield Ave., Lincoln, 726-9032. 3 p.m. Fundraiser to benefit
the victims and families of "The Station" fire. Tickets are
$10.00 each and there will be a pasta buffet and other foods available.
Donations are welcome.
Jovan's Multi-Plex,
6 Portland St., 421-8060. Providence. 5 p.m. A Fundraiser for The Station
Nightclub Fire Relief Fund. DJ Twin, Fred Da Great, Finesse and more.
Donation: $5.
Rumours
- A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac is looking to play a benefit for the
victims. Contact info is at their site.
3:20 Pyro Info: M. Martineau writes,
I am a pyrotechnic living in R. I. Luna Tech will turn out to be the
manufacturer of the gerbs in question. To be fair you should remove
the link to "Le Maitre" pro stage gerbs. Try the following:
http://www.pyropak.com/Pyro%20Materials%20Instructions/Gerb%20Instructions.htm
You should note the folllowing from the safety section:
"A 10 x 12 Gerb, for example, burns 10 seconds with a vertical
spark height of just under 12 feet (3.65 meters). Be certain there is
enough clearance for the rated height of the Gerb you have chosen, as
indicated by the second number in the rating. As always, when using
any pyrotechnic effect outdoors, be sure to calculate the possible effects
of wind on your safety clearances. The devices can also be fired at
an angle, in a "V" configuration, but the height, distance
and amount of fallout may be different from when they are fired vertically.
A Gerb fired at an angle can throw sparks laterally a considerable distance,
and remember, once a Gerb is fired it cannot be extinguished until it
burns out. Always test fire your system before the
performance to make sure that the effect is safe and is what you want
visually. "
It appears to me that the two gerbs fired laterally ignited the walls
almost simultaneously, proof that they are the culprits not the center
one. So the shooter had the ceiling height but not the walls....
3:00 Sound
reasoning: Blogger Tom Hoffman on acoustics and sound-deadening:
I put a match to a piece of packing foam a couple of days ago. A 4"
x 6" piece burned to nothing in around 10 seconds--many times faster
than a piece of paper, for example. It melts as it burns as well, which
might help it spread downward quickly. Judging by what happened at the
Station, it burns in every direction quickly.
What sticks in my head is that while foam cuts down on the reflection
of high frequencies, affecting the acoustics of the room, it has a much
smaller affect on transmission of low frequencies. When I saw
that stage, I just assumed they were going for that dead '70s studio
sound. If they were really trying to cut down on the noise leaving the
club, that foam shouldn't have had much impact. To block low-end, nothing
replaces sheer mass, in particular, a mass that can move to absorb the
sound without transmitting it.
Just to satisfy my curiosity, I broke down the cost per square foot
for real Sonex
acoustical foam. The first one is the cheapest fireproof foam for room
acoustics. They do make a composite foam that has a dense laminate floating
between layers of foam. As you can see, it is way expensive.
Packing Foam as reported in the Projo:
$1.09 per foot x 525 ft. = $575
fireproof Sonex foam for room acoustics (.35mm thick):
$2.64 x 525 = $1521 (for 9 boxes)
Sonex ProSPEC composite noise barrier:
$7 x 525 = $3675
The point here isn't that the owners of the Station had some cheap
and effective alternative method of soundproofing. You can get quilted
curtains that could have hung in front of the walls in the stage. I
don't know how expensive they are or how well they would work. The only
other option I know of is adding Acoustic
Batts into the walls, which obviously has much higher labor costs
than sticking up some foam.
There isn't a lot you can do to get around the fact you're playing
really loud music in a wood frame building next to a residential neighborhood.
Foam is just a placebo.
Internet radio station KNAC.com
- and its readers -- has been all over this story. A sample:
Exclusive
Interview: Illuminations of a Pyrotechnicrat: Benny Doro plays
Paul Stanley in the KISS tribute band Hotter
Than Hell, which played
The Station Sept. 28, 2001. “We carry one of the biggest pyro
shows you can put in a club” Doro says, “flame towers, sparkle
showers (like the ones Great White used), smoking guitars, flames, fire-breathing…all
the good stuff.”
1:15: Updated Partial
list of victims. Death toll is 98 after Kelly Viera died
at Shriners Hospital, Boston, at 12:20p.m., Saturday.
And at least one more: Leo Wells of New Bedford, Mass., writes,
Having looked at your site and all the great info there, I'm hoping
you might be able to get some word out for the family of one of the
victims from The Station fire.
His name is John Van Deusen and he is at RI Hospital in critical condition.
First, he isnt listed anywhere on a "Victim's List" so that
people who know him can rest assured he's actually survived this tragedy.
Repeated attempts to have his name listed among the missing has been
met with no response.
Secondly, the mother of his 7 yo son has built a website where his
friends can go to see daily updates on his condition as well as leave
messages for him to be printed and given to him when he becomes well
enough to read them.
The site address is:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/message2jvd
"Get well" messages: Rhode Island Hospital has established
a way for the public to send e-mail messages of support to patients, their
families and caregivers. The messages are being delivered by hospital
volunteers in the same way the hospital regularly delivers cards to patients.
The link to send messages: http://www.lifespan.org/news/Press/Statements/fire/message.htm
Foam: At roadie.net, a
photo said to be of The Station's drum alcove, set up for touring
band Trip. The foam insulation is clearly visible.
Sudbury
woman dies in West Warwick fire: Rebecca Shaw was the girlfriend
of roadie
Jeff Rader.
Panic: A Quantitative Analysis: Reader Peter Richardson sends
this,
There is a simulation of panic escapes, including a fire-driven case,
at http://angel.elte.hu/~panic
(one can dowload and run sample cases). There is also a short scientific
paper which explains the background to this model, by D.Helbing, I.J.
Farkas and T. Vicsek, "Simulating dynamical features of escape
panic". Nature vol 407, pp. 487-490, 28 September 2000. They include
a suggestion of a structure by an exit which may help overcome the jammed-bodies
problem.
I have seen lighted signs below knee level in corridors in a Tokyo hotel
to indicate the emergency way out. Very reassuring.
Great
White gig fire--who is to blame? Comments in LiveJournal format.
Interesting distinction from "Techchick68":
Keep in mind that I see blame and liable in two different lights.
Blame = bad decision
Liable = those that intentionally (sp) disregarded other's safety
I think it was just a bad decision, not that someone ever felt this
could happen. It's a fine line but that's how I feel.
Sprinkler systems: A
Boston Globe story notes, "On Wednesday, fire inspectors closed
Trattoria Il Panino & Club on Franklin Street after they found the
owners had shut off the sprinkler system, blocked exits with furniture,
and had a broken fire escape."
This seems baffling until we get to the explanation:
"...the common practice of shutting off sprinkler systems -- so
they're not accidentally triggered by a club's cigarette smoke and heat."
How can a sprinkler system know what's an emergency and what
is not?
Great
White Singer's Fire Fascination: A bizarre item at TeenMusic.com
is an unsigned story about Jack Russell's onetime driver:
Russell's former driver Al Bowman wasn't surprised when he heard the
news of the inferno - because his ex-boss was always playing with fire.
He goes on to offer a couple of anecdotes. Hard to know what weight they
carry.
Fans continue to react at MetalSludge.com.
Last
week's Station Fire Web log is here.
