Digital Extra: The Station Fire

10:25 AM EDT on Tuesday, August 3, 2004

BY PAUL EDWARD PARKER and EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writers

A diagram of The Station nightclub made public yesterday under court order shows 26 of those who died were found in a rear section of the club with no direct exits.

"Getting caught in dead ends is a traditional problem," said Jake Pauls, an expert in human behavior in fires. "That is classic that people would tend to be found in there."

The Feb. 20, 2003 fire started at the back of the stage when Great White's fireworks ignited polyurethane foam on the walls.

Pauls said many of those found in dead ends at the opposite side of the club from the stage may have initially tried to use the front entrance, but found it blocked by the crowd. At that point, they may have turned from the crowd and sought another escape.

"That does look like an attempt to get as far away from the fire as possible and look for a way out, and that's reasonable behavior," said Pauls. "That would be an obvious direction to head, because it gets you furthest from the fire the quickest."

Unfortunately, their path also led into the storage room, the office or one of three restrooms, none of which had exit doors or windows that could be used as exits.

The diagram, prepared by West Warwick police, shows the number of victims found in various parts of the club. The diagram, which does not identify victims by name, indicates most people died at or near the main front entrance.

According to the record, 31 people were found in the entrance hallway leading from the main concert room to the front door; 9 others were found in the main concert room near the entrance to the hallway.

An additional 18 were in the "greenhouse" area off the main concert room, separated from the entrance hallway by a wall.

"People know that's very close to the entrance," said Pauls. "They might have been operating in total darkness . . . maybe they were confused whether they were on one side or the other."

Seven victims were recovered outside the front of the club, according to the diagram. It does not make clear whether those victims made it out of the club alive, or whether they were removed before anyone started documenting where victims were found.

The attorney general's office, which made the diagram public, could not be reached yesterday for clarification.

The diagram shows that three victims were found in the club's main barroom, near windows that dozens had used as exits. Last year, in interviews with survivors, The Providence Journal determined that at least 54 people climbed out those windows. The Journal found another 46 who used the barroom's exit door. That means at least 100 people survived the fire by going through the barroom.

"It seems very clear . . . that was a fairly successful strategy going through there," said Pauls.

According to the diagram, two other victims were found alone: one in the kitchen and one on the dance floor in the center of the club.

Lawyer Max Wistow, co-chairman of a committee representing 80 people killed and 146 injured in the fire, declined to comment on the diagram until he has time to study it.

But Wistow asked about another, similar diagram. "My understanding is that a grid was prepared where one-third of the victims were located in specific locales," he said. "We don't know why that wasn't produced. It could be produced without invading the privacy of the deceased."

Lawyer Thomas G. Briody, who represents Daniel M. Biechele, the band manager charged with manslaughter in the fire, noted that Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. has ordered lawyers not to comment on the criminal case.

"We continue to maintain this was a terrible accident," Briody said. "The victims have our deepest sympathy, and we'll continue to confine any substantive comment to court."

Lawyers Jeffrey B. Pine and Kathleen M. Haggerty, who are representing Station co-owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, also charged with manslaughter, did not return calls seeking comment.