{"id":10633,"date":"2011-02-11T13:03:01","date_gmt":"2011-02-11T19:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=10633"},"modified":"2013-02-06T08:33:23","modified_gmt":"2013-02-06T13:33:23","slug":"the-station-nightclub-fire-8-years-after-the-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2011\/the-station-nightclub-fire-8-years-after-the-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Station Nightclub Fire: 8 Years After the Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Franco Cerchiari<\/span>
\nStaff Writer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Feb. 20, 2003, at 11:07 p.m., at The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in what should have been a night of association with friends, fist-pumping hard rock and a high that can only come from seeing one of your favorite bands live, quickly cascaded into something deadly. Just seconds into Great White\u2019s opening song, \u201cDesert Moon,\u201d a pyrotechnics display turned the festivities into a scene of unimaginable terror as sound insulation surrounding the stage and ceiling caught fire, and the club quickly became engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n

Of the 462 in attendance, 100 lost their lives, with hundreds more injured. In their frantic attempt to flee, attendees rationally but sadly made the effort to escape by going out the same door they came in, never giving thought to other exits that were accessible. Subsequent investigations would result in finger pointing, blame, admission of fault, lawsuits, tears, hard feelings and jail time, none of which could take away the unrelenting grief the family members of those killed had to now live with for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

Call it what you will \u2013 hard rock, heavy metal or rock \u2018n\u2019 roll – what it is called is of little worth here. What is important is what happens when a group of friends come together for a night of the sheer exuberance that comes from seeing your musical heroes on the lighted stage. From the instant the opening bars of the first song finds its way to your ears to the closing encore, all thought of responsibilities, commitments, deadlines and the drudgery that is the real world is gone.<\/p>\n

\"\"Through the magic of live music, spectators are transported to a place that if one hasn\u2019t experienced it, trying to put it into words is difficult at best. It is truly a high like no other. Those at a concert connect with one another. No words need to be shared, no thoughts analyzed. The head keeping time with the beat, the imaginary drum sticks pounding the sky, the air guitar that comes to life and a unison of voices all singing along to a favorite song says it all. From the stacks of amplifiers comes a wave of musical emotions that swirls around you and one is literally lost in the moment. It is universal, and the escapism that comes from attending a concert is a thrill beyond words. But when heartbreak occurs when out for nothing more than an evening to forget all, time seems to stop, and it becomes a reason for reflection.<\/p>\n

The saying that when a person is taken from this life when doing something they love, their death becomes more memorable may ring true for some, but here those words seem to get lost. Certainly these good people who lost their lives on that eventful night were doing something they loved, but to lose their lives from the actions of others \u2013 whether those actions could have been prevented \u2013 almost seems to make what happened on that cold Rhode Island night even more sad.<\/p>\n

In a mere six minutes the nightclub was ravaged by fire, so for those there, the fear that ensued makes the thought of the horrific sequence of events even more chilling. It is beyond comprehension of what it must have been like. But in the end, 100 of our fellow hard rockers were killed. 100!! And, of course, the next thought that comes is how and why. Some of those questions may be answered and perhaps some may never be.<\/p>\n

\"\"As the dust settles and after the realism of what occurred sets in, then comes the slow process of healing. So we say to those injured, we hope your recovery was swift. To those who were there and, still to this day, are tormented with thoughts of what transpired, we wish for you peace. To the families who lost so much that night, we offer our shoulders to cry on, a beer lifted to the sky in memory of those who were killed and extend to you our wish that our tears could and would somehow bring back their return. But in the silence of our own lives, we know they can\u2019t. So instead with a hushed reflection we say to those who grieve, \u201c\u2026 please know you do not hurt alone, we hurt with you, and we are here for you and will be till the end of time. We may have not been at that concert, but our spirits were. In a sense, we are part of your family, those of us who breathe and live rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. While these words may not ease your anguish, we hope you know what your family member\u2019s life means to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t understand what it is like to be part of our hard rock\/heavy metal family, you will never understand, and, truthfully, we don\u2019t care if you do or not. The reality is that in our existence, there is one thing that is a universal fact \u2013 rock \u2018n\u2019 roll is a part of our lives, as much as is our heritage or anything else. This month will be the eighth anniversary of The Station Nightclub Fire. Thankfully, time has a unique way of soothing the hurt and giving us strength to pick ourselves up and continue on. And so we do, each day becoming a little easier than the one before.<\/p>\n

In closing, we have that day engrained in our memory as one to never to forget, and in tribute of those who were lost, we refuse to let that day go. May they never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

Louis S. Alves\t33
\nKevin P. Anderson\t37
\nStacie Jude Angers\t29
\nChristopher G. Arruda\t30
\nEugene Michael Avilez\t21
\nTina Marie Ayer\t33
\nKarla Jean Bagtaz\t41
\nMary Helen Baker\t32
\nThomas A. Barnett\t38
\nLaureen M. Beauchaine\t35
\nSteven Thomas Blom\t40
\nWilliam Christopher Bonardi III\t36
\nRichard A. Cabral Jr.\t37
\nKristine Marie Carbone\t38
\n\"\"William Walter Cartwright\t42
\nEdward B. Corbett III\t31
\nMichael E. Cordier\t32
\nAlfred Carmano Crisostomi\t38
\nRobert J. Croteau\t31
\nLisa Marie D’Andrea\t42
\nMatthew P. Darby\t36
\nDina Ann DeMaio\t30
\nAlbert Anthony DiBonaventura\t18
\nChristina Ann DiRienzo\t37
\nKevin J. Dunn\t37
\nLori K. Durante\t40
\nEdward E. Ervanian\t29
\nThomas J. Fleming\t30
\nRachael K. Florio-DePietro\t31
\nMark A. Fontaine\t22
\nDaniel J. Frederickson\t37
\nMichael A. Fresolo\t32
\nJames C. Gahan IV\t21
\nMelvin A. Gerfin Jr.\t46
\nLaura Gillett\t32
\nCharline Elaine Gingras-Fick\t35
\nMichael James Gonsalves\t40
\nJames F. Gooden Jr.\t37
\nDerek John Gray\t22
\nSkott C. Greene\t35
\nScott S. Griffith\t41
\nPamela A. Gruttadauria\t33
\nBonnie L. Hamelin\t27
\nJude Henault\t37
\nAndrew R. Hoban\t22
\nAbbie Lea Hoisington\t28
\nMichael B. Hoogasian\t31
\nSandy Hoogasian\t27
\nCarlton L. “Bud” Howorth III\t39
\nEric James Hyer\t32
\nDerek Brian Johnson\t32
\nLisa Kelley\t27
\nTracy F. King\t29
\nMichael Joseph Kulz\t46
\nKeith R. Lapierre\t21
\nDale Lawrence Latulippe\t23
\nStephen M. Libera\t31
\nJohn Michael Longiaru\t28
\nTy C. Longley\t34
\nAndrea L. Mancini\t39
\nKeith Anthony Mancini\t37
\nSteven Mancini\t27
\nJudith Irene Manzo\t33
\nThomas Frank Marion Jr.\t29
\n\"\"Jeffrey W. Martin\t37
\nTammy Mattera-Housa\t40
\nKristen Leigh McQuarrie\t37
\nThomas P. Medeiros\t29
\nSamuel J. Miceli Jr.\t21
\nDonna Marie Mitchell\t31
\nLeigh Ann Moreau\t38
\nRyan M. Morin\t33
\nJason R. Morton\t26
\nElizabeth Ellen Mosczynski\t18
\nKatherine O’Donnell\t33
\nNicholas Philip O’Neill\t38
\nMatthew James Pickett\t34
\nCarlos L. Pimentel Sr.\t32
\nChristopher Prouty\t30
\nJeffrey Scott Rader\t29
\nTheresa Lynn (Serpa) Rakoski\t40
\nRobert Louis Reisner III\t46
\nWalter Rich\t33
\nDonald Paul Roderiques\t35
\nTracey L. Romanoff\t25
\nJoseph E. Rossi\t24
\nBridget M. Sanetti\t39
\nRebecca Elinor Shaw\t36
\nMitchell C. Shubert\t39
\nDennis Joseph Smith\t43
\nVictor Lowell Stark\t43
\nBenjamin Joseph Suffoletto Jr.\t28
\nLinda Dee Suffoletto\t25
\nShawn Patrick Sweet\t37
\nJason R. Sylvester\t40
\nSarah Jane Telgarsky\t30
\nKelly Lynn Vieira\t30
\nKevin R. Washburn\t29
\nEverett Thomas Woodmansee III\t29
\nRobert Daniel Young\t30<\/p>\n

\"\"
Station Family Fund<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

http:\/\/www.stationfamilyfund.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Station Fire Memorial Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

http:\/\/www.stationfirememorialfoundation.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Franco Cerchiari Staff Writer On Feb. 20, 2003, at 11:07 p.m., at The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in what should have been a night of association with friends, fist-pumping hard rock […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6971],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main-articles"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}