Digital Extra: The Station Fire

01:40 PM EST on Friday, February 20, 2004

By JACK PERRY
projo.com staff writer

WEST WARWICK -- Time hasn't healed the wounds for Shawn and Rebecca Corbett.

It's been one year since their brother, Edward Bradley Corbett III of West Warwick, died in The Station nightclub fire, and the pain is as sharp as it was when they first learned he'd died at just 31 years old.

Shawn and Rebecca visited the site of the tragedy this morning, standing quietly beside a small memorial to their brother that includes a cross, flowers, a small Christmas tree, a photograph of Edward and a poem.

"It's difficult every day," Rebecca said. "It still hurts the same."

Shawn and Rebecca, who both live in East Greenwich, visited this morning in the hope of having some quiet time to remember their brother before tonight's memorial service here. They plan to attend that service, too, and expect it to be crowded.

Shawn and Rebecca were among some 20 to 25 mourners late this morning at the Cowesett Avenue site, which was cleared months ago of the club's wreckage and now hosts personal memorials to the fire's victims.

Today, some added flowers. Others brought balloons. Some stood or kneeled quietly by a cross. One woman walked slowly among the crosses and photographs, pausing in silence, tears in her eyes, to read about another of the fire's 100 victims.

A police officer stopped cars on the busy road to let visitors cross the street. With cruiser lights flashing, the police had blocked off Kulas Road, a small side street next to the site. Several large television news trucks were perched on a small rise on Kulas Road, ready for live reports from the scene.

At a memorial for Michael and Sandy Hoogasian, a husband and wife who died together, someone had left two boxes of neatly-packed CDs. Signs on the boxes encouraged visitors to take a copy of the CD, whose cover included an image of an angel and the words "Station Fire In Memory of..." Among the recordings were songs such as Night Ranger's "Goodbye" and Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Life by the Drop."

The Hoogasians' memorial includes a photograph of the couple in a limousine on their wedding day and a poem that starts, "We will survive together as one."

Edward Corbett ran a plastering business for 10 years with his brother Shawn. He wasn't a big fan of the band Great White, Shawn said, but attending the concert gave him a chance to spend time with an old friend, Tawnya Kelly.

Kelly made it out. She told Corbett's family that Edward was right behind her. Shawn speculates that his brother either fell and was trampled or delayed because he was trying to help others get out.

The loss has been tough for Shawn, who lost both a brother and a business partner. Shawn couldn't keep the business going by himself. "The jobs were too big," he said.

Shawn and Rebecca visit Edward's memorial on the 20th of every month to remember him. They also attended the service last night coordinated by the state at Cranston's Rhodes-On-The-Pawtuxet. Shawn Corbett said he especially liked the hundreds of colorful butterflies made by Rhode Island schoolchildren as a symbol of transformation.

This morning, the brother and sister took turns chasing Rebecca's son, Lucas, who is 2 years old and too young to understand about his uncle's death.

Nearby, workers assembled aluminum poles to support a tent for tonight's memorial. A large orange street sweeper rumbled through the parking lot cleaning caked mud from the asphalt.

Shawn was happy for the chance to spend some relatively quiet time thinking of his brother.

"Tonight, it's going to be more hectic," he said. "It's been tough. It's like it was yesterday."

DIGITAL EXTRA: View profiles of The Station fire's victims, post condolences to an online guestbook and more, at: http://projo.com/extra/2003/stationfire/