The Station Club Fire and Club Fire Safety Discussion: (now 10 years later).

Mod Update: 5 years ago I started this thread, it is still as relevant today as when it first happened. Please take the time to read this thread, especially if you work in clubs, or even attend local shows.
There are a lot of serious issues, but well worth your attention!

I got to give big congrats to Dee Snider for organizing the 5th
year Anniversary Benefit concert for the Station Fire Family
Fund. Through his personal efforts, he was able to put
together a star studded line up, and personally recruited a
flock of musicians to donate their time and services to the
benefit. The line up is below, and Dee not only got the rock
world involved, he was able to recruit the ‘Country Mafia’ of
John Rich and friends who are traveling up at their own
expense to perform and help out.

It is events like this where you see some of the music world
at its finest.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the circumstances, 5
years ago the band ‘Jack Russel’s Great White’ performed a
show at a small local venue called the Station Nightclub. At
the beginning of their set, the band manager set off a
pyrotechnic display that ignited flammable soundproofing that
had been applied to the walls and ceiling (illegally, I might
add).

Within seconds the whole ceiling became involved and
the resulting fire killed 100 patrons and maimed 200 others in
the 4th worst nightclub fire in US history. The site is about a
mile and a half from my office and currently serves as an
impromptu memorial until such time as the legalities of the site
ownership are clarified.

The band manager, Daniel Michael Bichele was sentenced to 4
years in prison on 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Michael Derderian, co-owner of the club, was sentenced to 15
years in prison, 4 to serve. He was released on work release,
but was returned to prison within a day for work release
violation.

Also, his brother , Jeffery Derderian, a local TV
personality, was sentenced to probation. Both were fined 1.07
Million dollars for failing to carry state mandated workmen’s
comp insurance, which would have covered the 4 of their
employees who were killed.

The West Warwick Fire Chief noted that if you weren’t out of
the building within 60 seconds of the fire starting, you were
dead. That’s a scary thought; keep that in mind next time
you are at a packed venue.

Sadly, Great White’s guitarist Ty Longley was killed at the
show as well. Jack Russell has had the moniker ‘Fake White’
attributed to the band during 2003, when the tragedy
occurred. Without a doubt, the publicity surrounding the fire
did nothing but spur Russell’s career, and he is purported to
have dedicated the next tour segment of the band to charity.
What the outcome of that effort was is unclear. Jack has
since reformed the band with most of the original line up and
continues to tour successfully.


What is glaringly obvious is the lack of Jack’s involvement at
this point.

Thus, I have to reiterate my admiration to Dee Snider for
stepping up and making a huge difference for the music fans
of Southern New England, especially those most affected.

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Excerpted from the news release said:

23 January 2008, Providence, Rhode Island: John Rich (Big &
Rich), Alabama’s Randy Owen, Dierks Bentley, Kellie Pickler
and Gretchen Wilson have just been added to the Phoenix
Rising! Musicians United to Benefit the Victims of the Station
Nightclub Fire concert.

As previously announced, Tom Scholz (Boston), Aaron Lewis
(Stained), Tesla, Twisted Sister, Kevin Max and Stryper are
all confirmed to perform Monday, February 25, 2008 at the
Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

John Rich will host the country portion of the concert while
Dee Snider will do the honors for the rock segments.

Additional confirmed artists include Emmy-nominated
composer and musician Marc Bonilla who will serve as music
director for the benefit, Carmine Appice’s SLAM!, Gary Pihl
(Boston), Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Danny Seraphine with CTA,
Gary Hoey and others still to be announced.

“Dee Snider of Twisted Sister reached out to me to put
together a coalition of country artists to help raise money for
the families that have lost their loved ones,” commented John
Rich. “ All of my friends in country music responded
immediately with yes. No matter what music you play or listen
to we are all one family, and we need to help each other out
especially in time of need.”

Dee Snider stated, “This event is about music fans
desperately in need, so it’s important that “Phoenix Rising
Musicians United to Benefit the Station Nightclub Fire Victims”
be supported by musicians of all genres. We are so happy to
welcome John Rich and his rowdy friends aboard for this very
important mission.”

The charity event marks the fifth anniversary of the Station
Nightclub tragedy in Rhode Island, the fourth largest nightclub
fire in U.S. history. 100 lives were lost, 200 others were
seriously injured and 65 children lost one or both parents. Five
years later, funds available for the survivors are woefully
inadequate. Only 15 survivors of the fire qualified for Social
Security benefits, and many are still unable to meet their
monthly needs.

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If you are in the area and can attend or support, the venue is
the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence RI. Local radio
including sponsor WHJY have indicated that doors will open
early – 5:30 – because of the number of artists performing. (I
forgot to mention WHJY lost their DJ ‘The Doc’ aka ‘Doctor
Metal’ Mike Goncalves who announced the show. The Doc had
the only overnight metal show in NE.)

Also, VH1 told Dee that if he was able to pull a big enough bill,
they would film the event and that has been confirmed. A
DVD release is planned for April, I have heard.

Tickets are still available, this should be a great show.

Thanks Dee.

Yeah, thanks for bringing this one back.

It is still surreal, for sure.

It's changed the way I attend shows. I saw Dave Mason at
the Newport Blues Cafe and the place was full. We stood right
by the door. Mason was sweating so much he shorted some
of his stomp boxes.

Well, that show was last year.

I couldn't go, but I had Funkster up in Worcester pick me up a
shirt, I gave a modest donation.

This is still a really big deal here, 100 people lost.

Updates:

Jack Russell doesn't come up here much. AFAIK he did one show here since then.

The Dee Snider effort was a great effort and yeah, that was a
way cool thing. Dee is a class guy, for sure.

There have been some insurance settlements made. Most
people opted to go for the class settlement.

Dan Bielicki, the band manager, has completed his sentence
and has been paroled. He is the only one of the band
organization jailed and the only one who has shown any
sincere remorse over this situation.

Little Rhody is pretty small. Pretty much everyone knows a
family who lost someone.

If you are not familiar with what happened, hit google.

Basically, the band set off incendiaries inside, flammable sound
proofing foam on the walls caught fire and the whole ceiling
caught fire.

The Fire Chief in West Warwick noted that if you weren't out
of the place in the first 60 seconds, you had no chance.

Well, this is the 6th anniversary.

I have had requests to bump the original thread as well.
Feel free to chime in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Station_nightclub_fire

Every musician should be aware of what happened here.
Every club owner and employee should be aware of what happened here.

The Brian Butler Documentary Video, the Inferno caught on tape.
Updated link:


WPRI cameraman Brian Butler was assigned to do a peice
on Nightclub overcrowding. His video caught the inception
of the fire on video tape. The ceiling (flammable) acoustic
soundproofing foam is fully involved within seconds.


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RIP fans and friends.

I had the opportunity to dedicate the evening last night
to the Station Fire victims.

I got a call from the drummer sitting in with us last night,
he really appreciated the dedication.

His daughter is a nurse and she was a care giver to many
of the victims. He called her to let her know that the
musical community here understands that we we lost
100 fans who would come out to hear live music on
a freezing night. People who love live music.

Anway, it was small thing to do, to announce to the crowd
and remember.

But the small things count.

Well, tomorrow is the anniversary of the Station Nightclub Fire
here in little Rhode Island. We lost 100 live music fans
February 20th, 2003.

If you as a musician have never heard of this fire, you need
to know about what happened. Please read the links on post 8
and Google for further info.

You will never look the same way at a club stage again. You will be
much more aware of your surroundings and where the exits are. You
may understand that the time it takes to put your bass in a case may be the
difference between living and dying.

Some updates:

A settlement was reached over the legal issues, damages and
payments to survivors totalling 176 million dollars.
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N.B. that the legal fees alone are 59 million dollars. Not a bad
payday for a few of the lawyers involved. The litigation has taken
7 years and no funds have been disbursed as of this date, though
it appears that may seem possible for this year. Citizens Bank is
to be commended for handling the trust funds and transactions on
a no fee basis.

Daniel Biechele was released on parole and completed his
probation in January 2010. Michael Derderian, club co-owner
and manager was paroled in Oct 2009. Michael Derderian,
co-owner, has completed the community service of his
sentence.
http://www.projo.com/extra/2003/sta...le_released_03-20-08_J99EN6K_v11.372ff57.html

Anyway, Jack Russell's life continues on as normal, having
spent no jail time and avoiding any culpability. Great White
continues to tour. They have not returned to Rhode Island
since. The band has a different lineup, this is about 3
iterations later. The appear to have achieved a 1 million
dollar insurance settlement with the survivors, covering
the band, Biechele, the tour promoters and record label.

Final count, 100 dead, and over another 200 injured.

So, be careful out there, you never know what materials
people used for soundproofing.

Anyway bump lest we forget...

The rumor is that the people were turned away from the
stage left exit by band roadies. That is hearsay, but I have
heard it frequently.

That left the North exit. What you don't see is that the
wheel chair ramp/stairs had a railing directly in front of the
door, and when the panic hit, people who got there were
unable to clear the door area and the people behind at the
door and behind were jammed in and unable to exit the
building. A few of the less severely burned people were
pulled from the bottom of that pile.

This thing broke on TV, and as I watched that night I heard the
fire horns go off in town, Our volunteer FD, 30 miles away
was mobilized as well as most of the state to triage and
transport the victims. Some were sent to as far away as
Mass General in Boston. The local hospitals could not handle
300 victims without outside help.

Thanks for adding the diagram and the pics. Finding that 3rd
exit in 60 seconds, unless you knew the place, would have
been impossible. Heck, 4 employees there passed away, so
knowing the place didn't help much.

It was a sad day for our local music scene.

Gina Russo, Station Fire survivor, just recently released this
book on the fire.

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Note that Gina ascertains that a bouncer blocked the West exit during the fire in this article.

Her story is very uplifting and inspirational.

The story of the bouncer, no so much.

MIJ-VI said:

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Texas State Fire Marshall's report said:

The fire marshal’s Inspections Division, which follows NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, conducted random inspections of nightclubs and bars to identify hazardous conditions. The results of those inspections showed an astonishing 96 percent of the establishments had exit violations. Specifically, of the 189 establishments inspected, 182 failed. Violations ranged from poorly illuminated exit signs to exit doors that were padlocked shut. The fire marshal’s office employees realized the enormous potential for loss of life considering that there are thousands similar nightclub establishments in the state.

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If they have the exit door chained shut, don't play there.
Complain loudly.