Death Hag
From a newspaper article about David Malagrino that was appended to his witness statement. I believe Malagrino just thought the floor had collapsed when everyone fell.Originally Posted by Lt. Frank Drebin
"'Once I got to the front door, the floor collapsed,' Malagrino said. 'My legs and feet were hanging inside the club and the rest of me was outside.'"
Death Hag
yeah it's hard to say sometimes people go by middle names or people who write articles make mistakes, i really think the two guys look the same though, whatever their name might be. i was really touched by the terror in that poor man's eyes as he is kinda just moving along with the crowd and never recognized him on the victims memorial so was hoping he survived.
Death Hag
Hey there! Long time, no post from me, but I wanted to share something special...
Mike Ricardi, survivor of the Station fire, recently published his memoir about the fire and his best friend, James Gahan... it's available for purchase in both book and e-book format: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Thought-A.../dp/1500390437
I am proud to call Mike a new friend, and the book is great. Make sure to check it out!
Death Hag
Hey there! Long time, no post from me, but I wanted to share something special...
Mike Ricardi, survivor of the Station fire, recently published his memoir about the fire and his best friend, James Gahan... it's available for purchase in both book and e-book format: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Thought-A.../dp/1500390437
I am proud to call Mike a new friend, and the book is great. Make sure to check it out!
thanks for the heads up! i would honestly read every survivor's book if they wrote one. each story of survival is so unique (some more horrifying than others).
*** hey i found a video i have never watched on the fire, it's for the 10 year mark. but i thought some 'survivors' might be identified by name, and maybe we can recognize them on the feb '03 'before' video. (take in to effect for aging i guess)
i apologize if this has been posted before. i found it touching, and sad.
Last edited by Lush; 12-28-2015 at 02:02 PM.
Renowned Death Hag
Looks like a good read.
The reason a dog has so many friends is because he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
Death Hag
Thanks, CommanderAmander. LLC beat you to it. Her post from page 13:
I've been doing that all year. Almost every time I 'discover' something about the fire, a browse of these threads reveals that LLC announced it years ago. I really need to bow down to her and Mammy for pouring their hearts into this.
Thank you.
Death Hag
Aww, bummer! I'm glad it was mentioned though, Mike is a SUPER nice guy and has been amazingly kind. His story is a great one...
Renowned Death Hag
Absolutely! I have Mammy to thank, I believe, for introducing me to these boards. Shortly after joining, she'd told me about the fire and I just couldn't educate myself enough about it. LLC also provided some fabulous information, as have many others. We're all proud of our contributions to this thread, have made lifetime friendships and continue to keep the 100 victims, their families, and survivors forever in our hearts. My family will tell you that I'm absolutely rabid about reminding them to have an exit strategy, and to scope out the places they're going for safety. There literally is not a day that goes by that I don't think of this horrific tragedy and its many victims.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Administrator
Yep LLC and Mammy got me into this thread, This was my first disaster that got me hooked on reading about others, now I am writing a series of non-fiction books.
Death Hag
I always wonder how Jeff derderian
Escaped
Administrator
Speck, he probably went out the band door, upon hearing that there was a fire, He was, I am thinking one of the first ones out.
Death Hag
Jeff D ran out the front door. He was near the main bar and front entrance.
Death Hag
And don't forget, he made sure to get the cash register from the bartender right after he ran out that front door...
Renowned Death Hag
I remember reading somewhere he stashed the cash register in the snow.And don't forget, he made sure to get the cash register from the bartender right after he ran out that front door...
Death Hag
He sure did... out behind the building near the dumpster, if I remember correctly...
Death Hag
Indeed.
There is a photograph of the cash drawer in the evidence.
Death Hag
I believe this is the photograph in question. It is in the following folder on the hard drive: SF_Public\Phase 4\Photographs\Photographs - Not Provided to Civil Attys\04-1007-PR West Warwick 35mm Photos.
Senior Death Hag
Probably in the book Killer show. Everything we need to know is there
Administrator
Thanks for clearing up what door he went out of, it's been awhile since I have been on this thread, as there really isn't much to talk about anymore with this.
Renowned Death Hag
Man the greed was strong with the brothers D. First they cheap out on soundproofing by buying the egg crate insulation which ultimately turns the place into a raging inferno but instead of grabbing someone and helping them out the stage door or to a window he grabs the till from the register and helps it out the door instead.
Death Hag
Hey all, it's been awhile, but with the anniversary coming up and recently reading Mike Ricardi's book, I've been re-researching the Station fire again. I'm not sure if anyone is still interested, but I found a more recent photo of Laura Gillette- I know there had been discussion about the picture of her and how it's outdated, etc. So this is what I found:
Also, when watching the video again, I spotted who I'm almost positive is Robert Croteau:
I think someone had brought Robert up in the original thread, but from what I read, no one really expanded on it after it was mentioned. I apologize if any of this is old news, but I guess I'm trying to breathe life into this thread again.
Death Hag
I have always thought that that guy was Robert Croteau also!!! And wow. Where did you find that photo of Laura Gillett???Hey all, it's been awhile, but with the anniversary coming up and recently reading Mike Ricardi's book, I've been re-researching the Station fire again. I'm not sure if anyone is still interested, but I found a more recent photo of Laura Gillette- I know there had been discussion about the picture of her and how it's outdated, etc. So this is what I found:
Also, when watching the video again, I spotted who I'm almost positive is Robert Croteau:
I think someone had brought Robert up in the original thread, but from what I read, no one really expanded on it after it was mentioned. I apologize if any of this is old news, but I guess I'm trying to breathe life into this thread again.
Death Hag
Yay, thanks for the corroboration on RobertI have always thought that that guy was Robert Croteau also!!! And wow. Where did you find that photo of Laura Gillett???
Death Hag
Death Hag
Hi Wyatt, I'd like to get this thread going again too...
Death Hag
I have good news about the Google Drive. I'm uploading more files! As most of you know, in March 2014 I put most of the important files on my Google Drive account from an external hard drive I sent to the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General. Station-related police files, witness statements, some photos and videos, dispatch recordings, etc. But they only comprised in size 17% of the total files on the hard drive. Recently I joined the Google Local Guides program, and they have a perk for higher level members to increase your Google Drive storage to 1 TB. So I just increased my storage, and now I'm uploading the entire contents of the hard drive! It's about 172 GB total.
Having said that, I don't think there's a lot to get too excited about among the new files. Mainly you get a boatload of tribute band videos from the Station in previous years, some audio of West Warwick city council meetings, and fire test videos. But again I'm glad the entire hard drive will be available now for all to access. As I mentioned in 2014, the folder structure is already the same, I'm just uploading new files to folders which were blank or held just a few files.
As I mentioned, I'm uploading the files now. Due to the sheer size of the data it's taking a long time.. it won't all be uploaded for another week or so. I'll make another post when it's completed. But anyway I was going to wait to announce this until then, but then I realized that some of you may have your computers synced to my Google Drive, and would want to know that 150 GB or so of new data will eventually be downloaded to your computer. If you have limited space that's important for you to know. For those of you new to the Google Drive discussion, back in 2014 I posted some instructions on how to sync to your computer, which is the easiest way to download and work with these files. Here is the link to that post, just click on the double right arrow below to open the original post:
One side benefit to this: From older posts, you may remember that I had been using 2 Google Drive accounts to allow more files to be available. But now you just need one link, this one for my main Google Drive account:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Uk&usp=sharing
You can disregard and/or unsync the other account now, since all its files will be in my main account from now on.
Ken
Last edited by dionyzus; 01-26-2016 at 05:18 AM.
Death Hag
Thank you, Ken! I'm looking forward to the new files, regardless... I can't tell you how often I've referred back to those files. They've been beyond helpful. Thanks for your hard work on this!
Death Hag
...wow...good stuff...it a been many a tragedy here in the world but this so sticks in my mind too...the rest of the world may have forgotten about this and the people involved but we have not and will not. I think the "before" video and video of the tragedy is what makes this so unbelievable and surreal. This video....man. I watched the edited version one day with the Dallas theme music and my 14 year ago daughter turns to me and says "Momma you are watching the Station. I know you are."
Death Hag
Ok as mentioned in my last post, the Station hard drive files are now all uploaded to my Google Drive. The drive now contains a grand total of 173 GB! Here are the locations of the newly uploaded files, along with the amount of new data uploaded to each:
1st Disclosure > Videos 128 GB (contains over 50 videos)
3rd Phase > Videos 4 GB
Phase 4 > Audio Recordings > Town Meetings 10 GB
Phase 4 > Expert Videos 15 GB (fire test videos)
Most of the new data are in the form of videos in DVD folders. You don't have to make them into DVDs to watch them, you can use DVD preview freeware like DVD Shrink. I updated a summary of the video titles in an Excel spreadsheet, loaded in both the 1st Disclosure > Videos folder and the folder titled Contents Not From Original Hard Drive.
Again, here is the link to the Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Uk&usp=sharing
Last edited by dionyzus; 02-06-2016 at 12:26 AM.
Death Hag
Ken, you rock!
Sometime last year, I had given up trying to get any more of your videos to play for me. The one I wanted to see most of all was the hour-long Larry King interview with Linda Fisher, et al. I saw it many years ago, but had not saved it. Even when I downloaded it, I only got the first 60 seconds in an infinite loop. I finally tried again yesterday, and I got it to work! Great. I was poring over every second of the file footage that played at the commercial bumpers.
I was pleased to see that the blonde fellow from the background of this haunting photograph was alive and well the next morning:
He was chillaxing so peacefully at the bar, I've long wondered about him. He can be seen around the thirteen minute mark of the Larry King show, interviewed outside the venue.
That photo was one of several found in a camera on a deceased victim- perhaps the brunette woman in the green coat, since she is the subject in more than one of the pictures. She shares a vague resemblance with Kristine Carbone. The angle is too different to get a good comparison:
Death Hag
...the pictures found on the hard drive that were taken by victims broke my heart...
Death Hag
THANK YOU SO MUCH! You are the best, thank you for taking the time to do this.
Death Hag
That blonde guy looks like Jon Schmidt, a survivor. I'm going to say that is not Kristine Carbone in the green coat. Eye spacing compared to the lower face isn't right. Where is this picture from?Ken, you rock!
Sometime last year, I had given up trying to get any more of your videos to play for me. The one I wanted to see most of all was the hour-long Larry King interview with Linda Fisher, et al. I saw it many years ago, but had not saved it. Even when I downloaded it, I only got the first 60 seconds in an infinite loop. I finally tried again yesterday, and I got it to work! Great. I was poring over every second of the file footage that played at the commercial bumpers.
I was pleased to see that the blonde fellow from the background of this haunting photograph was alive and well the next morning:
He was chillaxing so peacefully at the bar, I've long wondered about him. He can be seen around the thirteen minute mark of the Larry King show, interviewed outside the venue.
That photo was one of several found in a camera on a deceased victim- perhaps the brunette woman in the green coat, since she is the subject in more than one of the pictures. She shares a vague resemblance with Kristine Carbone. The angle is too different to get a good comparison:
Last edited by Lt. Frank Drebin; 02-11-2016 at 11:07 AM.
Death Hag
I took of a photo of my monitor as a video was playing. It was a clip of Kristine's mother when a local reporter stopped by on one of the anniversaries. The portrait was on the wall behind the mother. When I cropped the shot to get just that part, it became very tiny. I don't have a bigger or clearer image of it.
The photo of Kristine looks younger than the woman in the green coat. If the Kristine photo was not a recent one of her, I'm wondering if she could have grown into the green coat woman. I am mindful that most people at the Station that night survived. We simply do not have pictures for the majority of them.
Oh, edited to add: Thanks for the possible ID on John Schmidt! I will look him up.
Last edited by RodentLady; 02-11-2016 at 04:36 PM.
Death Hag
I found the green coat woman in earlier photos from a different event:
These are in the google drive attributed to Stephanie Zanella.
Zanella was only 27, so it's not her. She mentioned being with 43-year-old Robin Precourt. That age sounds right to me.
I didn't find a picture of John Schmidt. The survivors list stated he was 41. 41 is too old for the man in the Larry King clip.
------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: I should have edited this years ago!! "Green coat woman" with the long dark hair is Robin Petrarca. There were two different Robin Ps.
Death Hag
I have made some more uploads to the Google Drive. I have added some audio and video files to the Content Not From Original Hard Drive folder. In the videos folder there, I saved copies of the YouTube videos that have been uploaded in recent months by RodentLady, as well as other videos like the Station web series. I think it's a good idea to have them saved in one place for posterity, and in case those YouTube videos disappear over time.
As for audio, I have uploaded a taper recording made by Matthew Pickett and a friend in 1994. The reason it is significant is they talk to each other during part of the recording. It is a touching tribute to Matthew's memory to hear his voice and listen as he enjoys spending time discussing music with a friend. I'll have more to say about Matthew in another post soon. But anyway I wanted to alert all you Station aficionados about these new uploads.
Once again, here is the link to the Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Uk&usp=sharing
Death Hag
Here is the only picture I have of Jon Schmidt:I found the green coat woman in earlier photos from a different event:
These are in the google drive attributed to Stephanie Zanella.
Zanella was only 27, so it's not her. She mentioned being with 43-year-old Robin Precourt. That age sounds right to me.
I didn't find a picture of John Schmidt. The survivors list stated he was 41. 41 is too old for the man in the Larry King clip.
Death Hag
You are absolutely right, Frankl! That is him. My age gauge must be off.
Here he is from the Larry King show, along with Rena Gershelis and 3 others:
I have this children's song playing in my head:
"John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, his name is my name, too."
Last edited by RodentLady; 02-16-2016 at 11:29 AM.
Death Hag
"Whenever we go out, the people always shout: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!"You are absolutely right, Frankl! That is him. My age gauge must be off.
Here he is from the Larry King show, along with Rena Gershelis and 3 others:
I have this children's song playing in my head:
"John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, his name is my name, too."
Is there anywhere I can see this part of the Larry King Show? Of your four pics above, the girl in black in the lower left pic looks like it could be Erin Pucino.i don't recognize two of the other survivors.
Death Hag
Death Hag
In the first pic with three women, that appears to be Stephanie Zannella in the dark blue shirt.I found the green coat woman in earlier photos from a different event:
These are in the google drive attributed to Stephanie Zanella.
Zanella was only 27, so it's not her. She mentioned being with 43-year-old Robin Precourt. That age sounds right to me.
I didn't find a picture of John Schmidt. The survivors list stated he was 41. 41 is too old for the man in the Larry King clip.
Was the pic with the woman in the green coat with Jon "Jacob Jingleheimer" Schmidt in the background sitting at the bar taken the night of the fire?
Last edited by Lt. Frank Drebin; 02-17-2016 at 09:27 AM.
Death Hag
The Larry King episode is in the google drive that Ken has kindly shared with us:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...09fMVhZMVROQUk
If your computer 'sees' it the way mine does, scroll down to the two thumbnail photos. Each of those is one half of the episode. Click on the first one to get it to play. Schmidt appeared about 13 minutes in.
There is no information as to whether the photo of the green coat woman with Schmidt in the background was actually taken on the night of the fire.
Last edited by RodentLady; 02-17-2016 at 12:31 PM.
Death Hag
Hey everyone! I'm so glad to see this thread getting activity again, especially with the 13 year anniversary upon us. I wanted to post a link to a podcast the survivor Mike Ricardi did with WWE famed Chris Jericho that aired yesterday. He talks about his book, and retells the story of the night of the fire, and losing his best friend, Jim Gahan.
http://podcastone.com/Talk-Is-Jericho
It's about an hour long, and I think you guys will enjoy it, as it's a first person account of what happened that awful night. Check it out.
Death Hag
Thoughts and prayers today for the 100 victims, as well as their families and the others injured and still living with this tragedy to this day, 13 years later.
Administrator
Thoughts and prayers for those that lost their lives, also prayers and thoughts for the families and friends and loved ones as well as to those that survived but still carry the scars and memories.
Sending out thoughts and prayers to the 100 victim,Surviours, their families, friends and loved ones.
Love and prayers... God bless!!
Senior Death Hag
Sending some love
That podcast interview was really good!
Death Hag
I'm glad you checked it out! It's always interesting to hear the first hand accounts... and what happened to Mike with Jim was heartbreaking. He was there one second, gone the next.
My thoughts to all those affected.
Death Hag
As I mentioned earlier, here is a long post about Matthew Pickett. I have been wanting to post about him for a while, hoping that his now infamous audio recording might turn up, but it looks like it's about as likely to be released as the Chubbuck death video. Anyway here goes.
I think many of us interested in the Station Fire have ended up feeling a particular connection to one of the victims, either watching the Butler video or hearing their stories later. The one I identify most closely with is Matthew Pickett. I had a roommate in college who was a taper like him and got me involved a little bit. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on him and his hobby, DAT taping and trading. Although this is touched upon in the book Killer Show, if you all would indulge me I thought I'd elaborate.
The taping hobby is a small, very specific niche within the audience of rock music fans. It started with fans of the Grateful Dead in the 60s. The Dead were known to be rather improvisational, and would change their setlist (the songs played) from show to show. That's hard for musicians, since it doubles or triples the reportoire of songs they have to learn before they go on tour. So not many bands go to the trouble. But anyway, Deadheads began following the band around the U.S. to see what they would do from show to show. And a small number of them would bring tape recorders, rig up microphones, and record them as best they could. Over time these tapes began circulating in an underground community of Deadheads who wanted to relive the shows, or find something significant about the songs played in a particular show. People would copy tapes and send them to other tapers in the mail, beginning the hobby that was called tape trading.
Gradually, interest in these live tapes led to tapers recording shows of other bands. The Grateful Dead knew about the tapers and encouraged them, but some other bands were not happy with them, as they felt people wouldn't pay to see them live if they could listen to a tape instead. (This is ignoring the fact that someone who goes to the trouble to listen to a muddy sounding recording of your band is probably a big fan already.) The borderline illegal nature of this taping even led to the term "bootlegs" being used to describe these tapes. Tapers began getting kicked out by security by some bands. So due to this, many resorted to taping in stealth mode, by sneaking in recorders. In the early days (up to the mid-70s) this was not too practical, as recording equipment was bulky and heavy. A few ingenious tapers who happened to be confined to wheelchairs actually smuggled in reel to reel recorders under their chairs. Over time as the technology improved, it became easier for anyone to become a taper.
Interest in bootlegs also led to some recordings being leaked out that are called soundboards. As most concertgoers know, there is a mixing board also called a soundboard set toward the middle or back of the audience in most live venues, and a member of the band crew or the venue is there during the show, adjusting levels to get the best sound for the audience and the band onstage. You can plug in a tape recorder into a soundboard and record certain channels or the overall mix, and soundmen sometimes make recordings of a show to promote themselves, sort of as an audio resume. They sound great, usually close to the quality of a band's official live albums. Sometimes these tapes get leaked out in the bootleg community, and they are treasured by tape traders as they usually sound better than any audience tapes.
As I mentioned above, most early bootleg recordings sounded muddy, distant and were not pleasant to listen to. As recorders and microphones got smaller and technology improved over the years, tapes began sounding better, with fuller, more professional sound. A significant improvement occurred in the early 90s when DAT recorders were introduced. DAT stands for Digital Audio Tape, and it records without the hiss and flutter normally heard with audio tapes. DAT bootlegs immediately sounded much better, almost close to soundboard quality. The taper played a big part in the quality of the sound as well, since microphone placement and position in the audience were important. It was usually ideal to stand close to the soundboard, since the soundman usually mixes the sound so it sounds best there; other parts of the audience may have more echo or reverb off the walls. As for the microphones, they got small enough that they could be hidden in a jacket like Pickett had, or even tucked into a hat like my college roommate did. In this manner, tapers could be inconspicuous yet get a good quality recording. (The state of the art today are digital voice recorders, which can be very small and record directly to a memory card. But that's a different topic..)
Tapers take pride in their tapes, and are always on the lookout for an opportunity to make a great recording, or to record a significant show. Just one example: Pickett traveled from Boston down to San Antonio, TX to meet some other taper friends, to catch the first show of the reunited band UFO's tour when they reformed in the mid-90s. This resulted in the DAT recording I posted recently to the Google Drive of Matthew and one of his taper friends sitting in the parking lot before that show, while the band did a soundcheck. They later taped the show itself. In this same time period, my college roommate recorded several shows by the metal band Queensryche, driving from Texas to Arizona and back again, recording both on DAT audio and a video camera he brought. These guys were dedicated.
Fast forward to 2003. I'm sure Matthew looked forward to taping Jack Russell's Great White at The Station, since they had recently reformed. As detailed in Killer Show, he started recording about 15 minutes before Great White took to the stage, as he and Joe Cristina stood in front of speakers near the stage. He probably stood there rather than by the soundboard so Joe could get better pictures. According to the book's description of the tape, Matthew didn't say anything as the fire started, until he said "Joe! Joe! Take a picture!" as Cristina took his photo of Jeff Rader in front of the flames. Tapers, as a rule, never speak during the show, as it would detract from the recording. If they are by a crowd of unruly, yelling fans, they usually get up and move so it doesn't spoil the recording. So by the time he told Joe to take the picture he knew he could speak again; he knew the show was over and he was out of taper mode, back to reality. Unfortunately, he only had a matter of seconds after that to escape, and as we know he did not, and he probably fell near where he stood. As the book chillingly states, the recording continued for 10 minutes after that. I don't mean to be morbid, but I am sure that the sound quality of his hi-fidelity DAT tape is very distinct as the fire took over the club. I wouldn't be surprised if the tape could faintly pick up Brian Butler yell "Anybody inside?" from outside the stage door, perhaps 100 feet away. It's also likely the recording picked up the arguing that occurred as the bouncer(s) were stopping people from exiting that door as the fire started.
I feel so badly for Matthew and his surviving family. Matthew was only doing what he loved to do and paid with his life, as did so many others that night. I guess a consolation is that he was enjoying his last moments, and he was with a friend, who miraculously escaped at the last second. I think it would honor Matthew's memory if his tape were ever released, to show his dedication to his hobby, which he demonstrated to his last breath.
Great post. Do we have any idea what happened to that tape?
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