At the memorial service, Bertolo sounded the siren five times, and unveiled the 100 victims’ names, which are printed on the trunk.

The Providence Journal / Peter C. T. Elsworth

WARWICK Paul Bertolo’s quick thinking got him and his girlfriend out of the Station nightclub in West Warwick when it erupted in flames five years ago.

But 100 people perished in the inferno and he has created a rolling memorial to them in the form of a restored 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne Fire Chief’s car with the victims’ names recorded across its trunk.

“I bought it (for $500) two and a half years ago as a parts car,” he said in an interview Sunday prior to a fifth-anniversary memorial service at the site of the former club on Cowesett Avenue. “Then I decided to do something with it.”

What he did was a complete restoration that took six months and more time, money and energy than he is prepared to talk about.

“It was a total, twisted, ugly piece of metal,” said Beth O’Connor, his girlfriend, who was with him the night of the fire.

“I went all out and did everything,” Bertolo said. “It was physically and emotionally exhausting and wiped me right out.”

He said it is the only collector car he currently owns, having sold “a ’59 Chevy to do this one.”

And right now Bertolo, who lives in Brockton, Mass., has no plans to add to his collection.

“This is it, this will be the last one,” he said, saying of the car collecting fraternity, “This is a sickness for us all.”

But like all true collectors, he added after a pause, “Well, maybe in two or three years down the road.”

Bertolo, 49, restores vehicles for a living and said he works on any make, model or year. But he clearly has an affinity for 1959 Chevrolets, noting he has owned a total of seven over the years.

Why that marque and year?

He said the fact that he was born in the 1959 model year — on Nov. 29, 1958 — is “probably why.”

But then he added, “You gotta love the wings,” referring to the horizontal fins that roll into the trunk deck. The car was produced from 1957 through the early 1970s as the no-frills model of Chevy’s full sized car range, which included the Bel Air, Caprice, Delray and Impala. It is distinguished by its fishbowl windscreen and striking face and rear view, with the flared wings and lozenge tail lights.

In fact, the fire was the second blaze that Bertolo has survived.

“There was a fire at my house two years prior to the Station nightclub fire, on Martin Luther King Day,” he said. “I lost three cars.”

But Bertolo’s fire chief’s car is much more than a 1959 Chevy.

“Most people just see an old car,” he said “Then it hits them when they see the writing.”

The bright red car with white roof has a siren and red flashing dome light atop its roof. The side doors are adorned with a fire shield with “RI Station Night Club Fire” inscribed inside. The words, “RI Fire Survivor” surround the shield and the phrase “Never Forget” appears to the rear of the rear door.

Bertolo has taken advantage of the flared wings to have the names of all 100 victims of the fire printed on the trunk. The names are surrounded by roses and the work is titled, “In Memory of the 100 Lives Lost” across the top.

He said he always gets a response from police and fire departments. As if to illustrate his point, a fire truck from the Warwick Fire Department came round the corner and pulled up alongside to take a look, the firefighters smiling and giving it thumbs up.

The drive behind Bertolo’s passion is the simple fact that he was at The Station on the night of Feb. 20, 2003.

“I’m just a survivor,” he said.

Bertolo said he and O’Connor were standing at the front near the stage when the fire started.

“Everyone thought it was part of the show at first,” he said. But he said he does not drink and reacted immediately, telling O’Connor, “This doesn’t look good — move!”

He said he thinks that quick response may have given them a “four second start to get to the doorway.”

They struck out toward the front door but by the time they got there, a general surge had started. O’Connor was swept out with the crowd, calling out, “I’ll see you outside,” before disappearing.Bertolo said he was caught on the edge of the surge and “popped back into the room like a cork.”

He immediately turned and made for a window he had been looking out of earlier in the evening.

“I’d been gazing out the window before the show started,” he said. “I even noticed how they opened.”

As it turned out, he did not need that knowledge as someone had already busted it open.

“Someone had knocked it out and I dove through,” he said, adding, “Not until I got outside did I realize how bad it was — my body was in shock.”

Meanwhile, their friend Michael Magee and his friend were battling their own way out.

“It was chaos,” he said.

Magee had been to the club before and remembered hearing a door in the kitchen area.

“I’d never seen the door, but I’d heard it,” he said. “It was locked in my head and I said, ‘That’s where we’re going.’ ”

And that’s where they went, saved by the vague memory of a door opening and closing.

Bertolo said he will not drive the car in the rain. “I prayed for two weeks that it would not rain today,” he said of the ceremony.

Auto Biography is a feature that tells an interesting story about a car and its driver. If you think you have a newsworthy story to tell about your car, write to Auto Biography, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St. Providence RI 02902 or e-mail projocars@projo.com. Be sure to put “Auto Biography” in the subject field.

The car doesn’t have to be a classic or expensive, but it should be somehow unique. The driver must be willing to be interviewed by a reporter about what makes this car special and to be photographed with the car.

For past stories about Rhode Island drivers and their cars, go to: projocars.com

pelsworth@projo.com