Station Nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island 2

[billoween]

Lt. Frank - I'm glad you're out of hibernation--and are already pinpointing survivor Sam Miller!
Miller was lucky, huh? Stage manager Paul Vanner just randomly told him to follow him, and so Vanner and then Miller got out the kitchen door right as the first big wave of black smoke hit. And Miller's friend, Jeff Ward, had been hanging onto Miller's shirt the whole time, too, so he escaped as well. He is a cook at a nearby Denny's, and I hope to talk to him someday.

Oh, and good Dave B. shot. Funny that he's wearing yet another Patriots cap. It's only his eyebrows here that give proof of the ordeal he went through in 2003.


Now for a correction to my earlier post (on the last page) about John Fairbairn.
It turns out that John Fairbairn thought I was asking about the shirt he was WEARING in this 2013 photo. But no, I was referring to the T-shirt that he's holding, which was a Poison concert shirt he had on under a long-sleeved denim shirt on the night of the fire.
He'd seen Poison in '99 in Providence; Great White had also been on the bill.




And speaking of shirts....here is Geno Goguen in a still from an interview that night. He still laughs about all the caution show then to not show his whole shirt. See, Geno works on Harley-Davidson's professionally, and this is what his shirt said in its entirety:

"I'm a Lesbian trapped in this Big Fat Ugly Biker's Body."

[CWC67]

Just got back from the memorial.
Had the whole place to myself.
How do I post photos?

[billoween]

CWC—Confession: I only post photos now when my techy wife is around to assist me. She does a quick cleanup on photoshop for starters; then goes to the site Imgur. All I know then is that you post them over “Advanced” on the FAD site, as opposed to “Quick Reply.”
There are some instructions on FAD, too.

[billoween]

RodentLady-You’re so good with dates. Going nuts trying to find the birthdate for Dennis Smith (D) of Pawtucket. He was 36. And I believe he had the middle initial “J.” Have the other 99.

[RodentLady]

@billoween: I did not locate Dennis on "sortedbyname." There was no way to narrow down the search. I combed through hundreds of entries about various Dennis Smiths, but there were countless pages left to go. The site claims to have ways to search more specifically, but they don't work.

@CWC67: The simple way to upload small photos from your device is to click on the "Insert Image" icon during a Quick Reply. It's the picture of a tree in a frame. Choose "From computer," then "Browse," then "Upload."

Larger, more detailed photos will need the process Bill described.

[CWC67]

https://imgur.com/gallery/tCHbykE

[RodentLady]

A bit of luck for us today, Bill. I found him!!!!


"SMITH, DENNIS J. was born 25 November 1966, received Social Security number 039-44-**00 (indicating Rhode Island) and, Death Master File says, died 21 February 2003
Source: Death Master File (public domain). Check Archives.com for DENNIS J SMITH. ($)"


His entry is 25th up from the bottom on this looooong page:
https://sortedbyname.com/letter_s/s205545.html

[billoween]

CWC - congrats, your Memorial photos came out loud and clear.

RodentLady - Fantastic. Good work! Now I can provide us with a thorough list going from oldest to youngest. Will put that up tomorrow.

[CWC67]

Yeah, I tried to upload here but they were coming out sideways, not coming out, etc. so I just decided to link them.
The last photo at that link if you look at the left most utility pole you can barely see the rear of a fire engine as is went flying by the Cowesett Inn, sirens blaring.
(talk about an eerie, chilling feeling)

[billoween]

Hi Gang--

I've been debating with myself about even posting these, but ultimately it seems that the truth is fair game and we, here, have shared everything else, so....

Using JXG's cleaned-up version of Butler--and going slo-mo--I couldn't help but notice what looks like human figures at several points in the fire.
These first two occur during Butler's first pass at the stage door.






The next three are from Butler's second pass by the stage door. Does anyone else see a figure, possibly crawling?








This last one is from the front door.

[RodentLady]

I don't understand the perspective in the final photo, billoween. It looks like a creature from a scary film crouching atop the frame of a small window. But there is no small window there. Is that dark, perfect right angle underneath the figure actually the top left corner of the front door?

[subarctican]

You can definitely see people in the front door during that segment of the video, but I really don't think there's anyone visible from the back entrance, just the dance of smoke and flames. As far as I recall, only one body was found on the dance floor itself and none by the stage exit, and by the time Butler went back there conditions had been lethal for quite some time in that part of the club, so very unlikely that anyone was still alive back there and then crawled their way onto the dance floor that late in the fire.

[billoween]

I agree with you guys, basically. I just felt like I should show these so folks could make of them what they will. Yes, it’s a very subjective exercise.
And, opps, the last shot, at the front was actually from Subarctican’s cable news link on page #40.

[billoween]

Dale Latulippe - 46 - 6/16/56
Don Roderiques - 46 - 10/8/56
Melvin Gerfin Jr. - 46 - 2/14/57

Ben Suffoletto - 43 - 3/9/59
Linda Suffoletto - 43 - 3/27/59

William Cartwright - 42 - 10/21/60
Lisa D'Andrea - 42 - 11/28/60

Ryan Morin - 41 - 6/8/61
Scott Griffith - 41 - 11/3/61
Karla Bagtaz - 41 - 1/1/62

Lori Durante - 40 - 4/12/62
Steve Blom - 40 - 5/4/62
Tom Medeiros - 40 - 5/17/62
Kelly Vieira - 40 - 8/31/62
Michael Gonsalves - 40 - 9/17/62
Walter Rich - 40 - 9/27/62

Victor Stark - 39 - 3/2/63
Mitchell Shubert - 39 - 5/1/63
Carl Howarth - 39 - 5/27/63
Tracy King - 39 - 6/15/63
Steve Mancini - 39 - 6/20/63

Kristine Carbone - 38 - 3/12/64
Tom Barnett - 38 - 4/16/64
Jason Morton - 38 - 6/26/64
Freddy Crisostomi - 38 - 9/5/64
Carlos Pimentel Sr. - 38 - 11/20/64
Sarah Telgarsky - 38 - 1/21/65

Richard Cabral Jr. - 37 - 3/17/65
Kevin Dunn - 37 - 3/25/65
Daniel Frederickson - 37 - 4/13/65
James Gooden Jr. - 37 - 6/10/65
Judy Manzo - 37 - 10/2/65
Sam Miceli Jr. - 37 - 10/6/65
Jude Henault - 37 - 11/4/65
Christine DiRienzo - 37 - 11/29/65
Kristen McQuarrie - 37 - 1/13/66
Kevin Anderson - 37 - 2/16/66

William Bonardi - 36 - 8/25/66
Dennis Smith - 36 - 11/25/66
Matt Darby - 36 - 12/14/66

Skott Greene - 35 - 2/22/67
Charline Gingras-Fick - 35 - 3/5/67
Laurie Beauchaine - 35 - 5/10/67
Joe Rossi - 35 - 8/11/67

Keith Mancini - 34 - 7/31/68
Chris Prouty - 34 - 10/7/68

Pam Gruttadauria - 33 - 6/1/69
Tina Ayer - 33 - 6/15/69
Louis Alves - 33 - 10/1/69
Beth Mosczynski - 33 - 10/20/69
Tracey Romanoff - 33 - 1/13/70
Jeff Martin - 33 - 12/9/69
Matthew Pickett - 33 - 2/10/70

Derek Johnson - 32 - 3/29/70
Rachael Florio-DePietro - 32 - 8/2/70
Eric Hyer - 32 - 9/20/70
Jeff Rader - 32 - 11/5/70
Michael Fresolo - 32 - 12/5/70
Laura Gillett - 32 - 12/21/70
Mary Baker - 32 - 1/26/71

Ed Corbett Jr. - 31 - 5/24/71
Robert Croteau - 31 - 7/13/71
Ty Longley - 31 - 9/4/71
Michael Cordier - 31 - 10/9/71
Michael Hoogasian - 31 - 2/13/72

Kevin Washburn - 30 - 3/14/72
Michael Kulz - 30 - 5/1/72
Everett T. Woodmansee - 30 - 6/8/72
Chris Arruda - 30 - 9/8/72
Theresa Rakoski - 30 - 10/19/72
Tom Fleming - 30 - 11/9/72
Dina DeMaio - 30 - 2/20/73

Donna Mitchell - 29 - 4/13/73
Robert Young - 29 - 7/5/73
Ed Ervanian - 29 - 8/21/73
Keith Lapierre - 29 - 10/10/73
Tammy Mattera-Housa - 29 - 10/13/73
Stacie Angers - 29 - 10/14/73
Robert Reisner - 29 - 11/20/73

Shawn Sweet - 28 - 6/24/74
Andrea Mancini - 28 - 7/28/74
Abbie Hoisington - 28 - 11/5/74

Lisa Kelly - 27 - 10/10/75
Bonnie Hamelin - 27 - 10/13/75
Tom Marion - 27 - 1/17/76

Sandy Hoogasian - 26 - 6/3/76
Katherine O'Donnell - 26 - 11/27/76

Bridget Sanetti - 25 - 12/24/77
Jason Sylvester Jr. - 25 - 1/9/78

Rebecca Shaw - 24 - 3/5/78

John Longiaru - 23 - 6/21/79

Andrew Hoban - 22 - 7/27/80
Derek Gray - 22 - 11/4/80
Mark Fontaine - 22 - 2/12/81

James Gahan - 21 - 4/15/81
Steve Libera - 21 - 5/10/81
Eugene Avilez - 21 - 8/16/81
Leigh Ann Moreau - 21 - 8/25/81

Albert DiBonaventura - 18 - 11/26/84
Nick O'Neill - 18 - 1/28/85

[RodentLady]

Thanks, Bill. I found the moment in the video where the last photo came from. Thankfully, it is above either the front door frame or the first bar window, so there can't be anyone that high up. The final side door screenshot does resemble a crawling figure, but in the moving video nothing like that is seen.

Excellent list! Really helps to lay it all out there. I counted 98 names. Do Michael Cordier and Jeffrey Martin need to be added?

-------------------------------

I was disappointed to discover that "RIvoters.com" has been disappeared off the internet. I loved that as a resource to look up most Rhode Islanders. It now redirects to sortedbyname. According to a 2012 article, both sites AND similar voter sites for eight other states are all owned by the same man.

Rivoters is on archive.org, but sadly there are only empty shell pages listing the alphabetical groupings of last names. When clicked, they lead to error messages. The actual entries were not saved.

-------------------------------

Some months ago, I stumbled across a youtube comment claiming to be by a relative of a young woman who died in the fire. The woman's boyfriend survived. They were accompanied that night by a male cousin (his fate was not clear.) What leapt off the page at me was that the commenter said the victim was "three months pregnant."

I have not heard that phrase in relation to the fire since 2003. Some troll called into CNN the next day and said he watched his girlfriend who was "three months pregnant" walk off toward the bathrooms in the club, never to be seen again. The names and story did not match with any real accounts.

The youtube commenter sounded legitimate. Her/his single comment got very little attention. The person was not boasting and was not spamming the same info all over the page making sure it would be seen. I've never seen it on any other SNF video.

[billoween]

Thanks RodentLady - Good catch! (I was tired that night.). Added both.

[CommanderAmander]

Some months ago, I stumbled across a youtube comment claiming to be by a relative of a young woman who died in the fire. The woman's boyfriend survived. They were accompanied that night by a male cousin (his fate was not clear.) What leapt off the page at me was that the commenter said the victim was "three months pregnant."

I have not heard that phrase in relation to the fire since 2003. Some troll called into CNN the next day and said he watched his girlfriend who was "three months pregnant" walk off toward the bathrooms in the club, never to be seen again. The names and story did not match with any real accounts.

The youtube commenter sounded legitimate. Her/his single comment got very little attention. The person was not boasting and was not spamming the same info all over the page making sure it would be seen. I've never seen it on any other SNF video.

RL, do you remember which video you saw that on? That's very interesting...

Lt. Frank- I'm so happy to see you back and active on this thread! I hope all is well.

Billoween- I can totally see what you were saying about some of those pics, esp. the one where it looks like someone is crawling by the rear door. I really hope that's not the case.

Also, that's a great list you put together of the victims by age. It's amazing to me that I'm now at the age of many of the victims, even older than some who once seemed so old to me at the time. It's sad.

[dionyzus]

I was expecting this to happen, glad it finally did. The REELZ Now app now has The Guest List available for streaming anytime. You don't have to watch at a certain time.

If you're new to the app, just sign in with your cable/satellite/streaming login. For example I used my DirecTV Stream login.

It may be listed under the alternate title America's Deadliest Rock Concert: The Guest List. Unfortunately I think it's still limited to US viewers.

Enjoy, for those who haven't seen it yet.

[CommanderAmander]

I was expecting this to happen, glad it finally did. The REELZ Now app now has The Guest List available for streaming anytime. You don't have to watch at a certain time.

If you're new to the app, just sign in with your cable/satellite/streaming login. For example I used my DirecTV Stream login.

It may be listed under the alternate title America's Deadliest Rock Concert: The Guest List. Unfortunately I think it's still limited to US viewers.

Enjoy, for those who haven't seen it yet.

Thank you! My only problem is we don't have cable, so I'm going to have to wait for it to be available for download

[RodentLady]

@CommanderAmander: I'm waiting for "The Guest List" to show up on a site like Soap2Day or freemoviesfull, but it's so obscure that I don't think it's going to happen. I spend almost nothing on entertainment. David Bellino said he hopes to release much more footage on a special edition DVD in the future. I'm disillusioned, I don't think I'd buy it.

Regarding the commenter who claims one of the deceased women was pregnant, I have no idea which video that was. Sorry. I considered sharing it in the first few days, but decided not to. Now so much time has passed that it's just a memory.

[billoween]

The following is from CNN on 2/21/03; these are excerpts from the transcript beginning at 6:02 am (ET)--just 7 hours after the fire.

The speakers are:
Jason Carroll - West Warwick correspondent
Carol Costello - in-studio news anchor

CARROLL: Well, I want to start out with a little bit of updated information for you, Carol, and that is the town manager here in West Warwick has confirmed now that the number of dead has now risen to 26. At least 26 people dead as a result of that tragic fire.....
There was actually a photographer from a local station inside the club. He was shooting a feature story on the band, and was shooting as this whole thing unveiled.....

COSTELLO: Jason, stay with me--I want to show the pictures once again from inside that nightclub taken by that local photographer--to explain to people what that pyrotechnics display entailed. Apparently, they were like torches, giant torches set up behind the band.

And one pyrotechnics expert described it this way: They're sort of like, you know, when kids have sparklers on the Fourth of July, that's sort of like how they work. And every so often, there'll be a burst of sparks, and on one of the bursts of sparks, the sparks, of course, ignited the curtain and the ceiling of the club.

The question is, is why they--were they so close to the back wall and the back wall had something flammable on it, and what was behind there? Some witnesses said there was some sort of foam behind there, which, of course, would help with the sound, to break up the sound waves in the band. But usually, that stuff is not flammable.

CARROLL: Well, in terms of the pyrotechnics, it's very much like those pyrotechnics that you would use on the Fourth of July, but normally in your front yard, not inside a home or a garage, whatever the case may be, because you have all of these sparks that come off of that.

The foam that was used--of course, the fire marshal is here, as you say. The foaming that was used is used for sound, you know, so you can get to try to--so you can try to get the best sort of sound when a band is playing on stage.

But it was obvious from that videotape there that whatever substance was ignited, whether it be the foam, whether it be the curtains, it ignited very quickly. Witnesses say that it spread extremely quickly.

COSTELLO: Yes, within three minutes.

(a little later)
COSTELLO: ...and Great White guitarist Mark Kendall is unaccounted for.....



MY NOTES (in hindsight):

--We can only wish that the final tally of the dead had stopped at 26.

--Brian Butler was, of course, a videographer or cameraman for a Providence TV station--not a "photographer." And he was not shooting for a feature story about Great White. Butler, in fact, had no idea of what his assignment was that night until he actually walked into the club and talked with Jeff Derderian.

--The gerbs are best described as upside-down rockets, not as torches or sparklers.

--There were actually 2 layers of foam over much of the back stage wall. In 1996, Howard Julian--he owned The Station before the Derderians bought it in March of 2000--screwed 18" x 18" blocks of white polyethylene foam to the drummers' alcove and some of the back stage walls. It was later determined that he'd found these white foam blocks in a dumpster.

--Foams are used on recording studio walls to cut down on various vibrations and extraneous noises. But, unless you were versed in The Station's long history of attracting noise complaints, wouldn't you have also figured that it must have been installed to make bands simply sound better? I mean how could you have ever guessed it's true purpose?: to block or muffle sound from escaping the club.

--Of course it was Ty Longley, guitarist for Great White, who was missing--not guitarist and Great White co-founder Mark Kendall. Kendall had actually heard this same live broadcast while sitting on the tour bus (moved to Cowesett Ave.), where the band was being temporarily detained pending their individual police interviews. He immediately called his mother in California to reassure her that he was alive.

[cigardaddio smoke]

Hi all. Just a quick hiya. Hope all are well. I am here at the memorial this evening. It still 91° but shade is plenty in here. Just wanted to check on the flags i placed. They held up well but Mr. Fredrickson is missing. I will replace it pronto. Otherwise it looks very nice, park serivces doing great job ! Take care. Jimmy D

[billoween]

Hi guys. Hi Amanda and Jimmy Cigar. Hope your summers are going okay.

Whenever I visit The Station Memorial Park, I'm always trying to picture where exactly the nightclub once stood.

The Memorial is set up very symmetrically, of course, which is fitting to its purpose and no doubt most pleasing to the eye. To have highlighted the club's old footprint would have called for a whole different design scheme.

But luckily, with all the information about The Station we now have available, it isn't too difficult to figure out where everything once was. I used these resources for the visuals that follow:
1.) The RIAG materials.
2.) The NIST report.
3.) The Butler tapes.
4.) The Best and McLaughlin tapes.
5.) FAD discussions.
6.) Observations made by survivors and club regulars at the site.
7.) Measurements I made myself at the Memorial using a contractor's spool-type tape measure



The police did most of the measuring at the site. This is their diagram showing that it was 132'-5" from Cowesett Ave. to the threshold of the front doors.



Okay, these Memorial steps are 8' across. The width of the Station's front corridor was 6'-7". The red line shows where I think the original doorway was; where we saw so many piled up. The blue line shows where the infamous railing would have been located.



This is far from perfect, but it's close. (consider it an experiment, for now)



Another experiment, using an old aerial of the Station.

[Kelly110]

Hi

I am new here! I am not sure why this tragedy interests me so much - I was about 30 when it happened and am in the UK so although I do remember it being shown on the national news, I really don't remember the circumstances that led to the high death toll. I heard the story again via a channel called 'Fascinating Horror' on YT about 2 years ago and have since read all posts in this forum - twice (!) and have watched the video countless times - although I have actually not seen the 'pile up' as I think I would find this too distressing.

I have a question! I am sure this would have been answered a long time ago but I really haven't got the patience to read through the posts again so here goes and I hope someone can help...I remember reading that people had an affinity with certain club patrons..mine is with two guys, they are at the bar and can be seen on the pre-fire walk around video, just after the bouncer walks past Bridget Sanetti and her group (I think!)...one guy (on the left) is taller with a dark hair, a beard and moustache and has his hand on his friend's shoulder on the right who is shorter with swept back brown hair and dressed in a navy blue top. They are both older looking and I wonder if they made it out OK? There is a guy later on in the 'aftermath' in the car park who looks like the shorter guy but I could be wrong. I don't know why they stick out for me, maybe because they just look like really jovial guys. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Finally, I would like to say that these posts are absolutely amazing and there is so much hard work that goes into identifying patrons and keeping these threads going. I wish I had new information to add!! Keep up the good work everyone and I will keep following xx

[pkstracy]

https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-c.../360785?page=1 a virtual cemetery with all of the victims listed you can leave messages and such for them I posted this a long time ago not sure if it was in this part two thread or the original.

[wineandkerosene]

I have a question! I am sure this would have been answered a long time ago but I really haven't got the patience to read through the posts again so here goes and I hope someone can help...I remember reading that people had an affinity with certain club patrons..mine is with two guys, they are at the bar and can be seen on the pre-fire walk around video, just after the bouncer walks past Bridget Sanetti and her group (I think!)...one guy (on the left) is taller with a dark hair, a beard and moustache and has his hand on his friend's shoulder on the right who is shorter with swept back brown hair and dressed in a navy blue top. They are both older looking and I wonder if they made it out OK? There is a guy later on in the 'aftermath' in the car park who looks like the shorter guy but I could be wrong. I don't know why they stick out for me, maybe because they just look like really jovial guys. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

The shorter guy is Harold Panciera. He saved another clubgoer and can be seen later in the video carrying that man and shouting "I need a medic!" The man with the beard was identified as Dave Malagrino in a post from 1/27/2014 in the old thread. Malagrino was unfortunately caught in the front door pileup. He was pulled out by firefighter Tim Delaney but was hospitalized with second degree burns.

[billoween]

pkstracy - thanks for reposting the find-a-grave link.

Kelly110 - thanks for climbing on board.

wineandkerosene - howdy. I'm going to add some info to what you said.




Dave Malagrino said that he left the main bar and went 3/4's of the way to the stage just prior to "Desert Moon."
"Once I got to the front door, the floor collapsed," Dave told the RISP. "My legs and feet were hanging inside the club and the rest of me was outside." He said that there were 7 or 8 bodies piled up on top of him. "There was a girl on top of me. She had fire going good all over."
(This is the front corridor, as recreated in a police warehouse in Cranston.)



The start of the crawlspace that ran along the front of The Station. The front corridor collapsed into it in those spots shown above.



Dave Malagrino and Bill Long were jovial roommates, reportedly, while at RI Hospital.



The zombie-like Bill Long from the night of the fire.



Harold P. had to go 6 feet into the kitchen to finally get his hands on the burned Robert Luxton, who was stranded in the dart room. Luxton was approximately 6'-2" and 225 lbs. Harold's friend Peter Vocaturea helped hoist him up onto Harold's shoulder.

[CommanderAmander]

Harold P. had to go 6 feet into the kitchen to finally get his hands on the burned Robert Luxton, who was stranded in the dart room. Luxton was approximately 6'-2" and 225 lbs. Harold's friend Peter Vocaturea helped hoist him up onto Harold's shoulder.

Harold is a goddamn hero.

Also, interesting about the crawl space, I don't remember ever hearing about that before... you can clearly see the spot on the recreated tile floor though. As if things weren't scary enough, they had to worry about falling through the floor too.

[CWC67]

It's happened again.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...4f2e4c5c994661

[Noelle1966]

Flammable acoustic foam. It has not been learned yet…….sad

[bustakita]

19 lives lost as of this past Monday. I saw the unedited video. How absolutely horrible. I feel so very bad and sorry for all the people who were there, injured or not. Seeing those people running out of the door engulfed in flames just really hurt my soul. I wish for a healthy recovery to those physically and mentally injured, and my condolences to those who passed away. I have never seen anything like that and it truly has bothered me. You guys all take care of each other and hug your loved ones even tighter, human and pet. 😢😢😢

[billoween]

Hi all.

So, in late July, I was lucky enough to spend a good half-hour or so with Station survivor Art Zanfagna. He's currently managing a Home Depot in the middle of Rhode Island.



Art wasn't physically injured in the fire, and can now--nearly 20 years later--talk quite freely about the tragedy. He even left me with a diagram of his escape route, all of which started with him seated at the back bar. He can be seen in the pre-show tape, here, with the shotgirl, Irina Gershelis.



Many of us, here, have probably seen Art in the excellent 2006 Discovery/Times documentary, "Decoding Disaster"--available for viewing in 2 parts in the video section of the RIAG materials. The show is hosted by crowd-safety expert Paul Wertheimer, who analyzes both the Station Fire and the Chicago E2 stampede (2-17-03) under the banner, "Nightclub Nightmares."

Anyway, Art Zanfagna went to The Station by himself on 2-20, knowing full well that he'd run into many friends there.

He eventually got out the bar door, but not before witnessing the fire's scary ability to suck all the oxygen out of a room, and thereby create a vacuum so strong it prevented a crowd of people from forcing open the door. That was until someone broke a window (or dove through one).
That's when the door flew open and people were practically sucked outside.

--Art said he'd been headed toward the crowded main doors at first until he felt someone tap his shoulder and say, "Back door, guy," and he heeded that advice.

--An unidentified young woman grabbed the hem of Art's leather jacket at the bar door and got out with him. Once outside, he pushed her up over a snowbank, and that's the last he saw of her. (I'm trying to figure out who this gal might have been, and do have it narrowed down to about 4 possibilities.)

--Art grew up in Johnston, RI, and was a classmate and friend of Steve Burgess, the firefighter-on-a-date survivor and rescuer. Art had talked with Steve near the back bar that night.

--Art married survivor Lisa Delsesto after the fire. That marriage lasted 7 years.

[billoween]

Just found out that survivor Stephanie Zannella died on 3-18-22 of complications from diabetes. She was 46 years old; 25 or 26 at the time of the fire.



She had arrived at the Great White show with Tommy Barnett (D) and Jason Morton (D). All three were Station regulars who got in for free. In the chaos of the fire, Jon Schmidt ended up pushing her out the bar door. She'd been sitting nearly with a group of "regulars" that included people like Schmidt, his wife Kerrie Beers, Dave Fravala, and Robin Petrarca.

She gave West Warwick detective Roland Coutu 7 still photos which were taken on a night at The Station before the night of the fire. Here is one of them, showing Zannella, Petrarca, and Beers:

[MoCushle86]

I have a question and do apologize if its further back in the thread. I did not find this thread until I saw The Guest List but I was very aware of The Station tragedy.
Does anyone know what happened to Brian Butler? Has he ever given any interviews? What is he doing now?
Thanks so much. Very happy to have found this respectful and thoughtful group.

[subarctican]

I have a question and do apologize if its further back in the thread. I did not find this thread until I saw The Guest List but I was very aware of The Station tragedy.
Does anyone know what happened to Brian Butler? Has he ever given any interviews? What is he doing now?
Thanks so much. Very happy to have found this respectful and thoughtful group.

I found his Facebook profile a couple years back and he had most of his info public. It seems he continued working at the same news station until 2014, and then was working at a different one after that. So as of a couple years ago he was still in the same line of work, meaning all the legal stuff surrounding the fire didn't end his career.

If I recall correctly, he did an interview with the author of the Trial By Fire book (haven't read it myself so I may be mistaken), other than that I don't think he's done any public interviews.

[RodentLady]

Welcome aboard, MoCushle86!

--------------------------------------
I don't remember seeing this photo before:

It caught my attention because at first, it looks like it's taken in daylight. But that's an illusion of course given the active fire. I can't tell if someone across the street zoomed way in or if the photographer was right there in the parking lot holding a camera above the car roofs.

It's shown here from 5:59 to 6:09- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ7cNziXbmI
The software zooms out slowly and only reveals the deceased in white body bags in the last few secs. I could not get a screenshot without the red progress bar being in the way.

[billoween]

Yo MoCushle86 - Glad to have you here.

Some misc. Butler notes:

--Butler was 42 years-old at the time of the fire. He was a friend of Dale Latulipee, 46, the oldest of the deceased club-goers.

--On the video, Butler left the front door scene from 1:28 to 1:59 (31 seconds), and then again from 4:32 to 5:52 (80 seconds).

--In the opening chords of "Desert Moon," the video catches Tracy King's head disappearing off the left of the frame. This was after an aborted attempt to lead Butler back to the stage for even more shots of the crowd. King next veered over to the soundboard, where he was checking in with Jeff Derderian. This left Butler, in his own words, "ten feet from the stage or 4-5 people back." He said that as long as he was that close he decided he might as well capture Great White's opening.

--Butler appears to have provided self-employed videographer Andrew Paskowski with a free pass or else got him on the guest list. Paskowski had played in the band "Deadsun," and appeared at The Station numerous time between 1996 and 1999. He got out a bar window, but did spend 5 weeks at Rhode Island Hospital.


Subarctican - Yeah, in the afterword to "Trial By Fire," Scott James gets crowing about how Brian Butler "had never been interviewed at length by a journalist until this book." And while it's great he got to speak with Butler, I would definitely take out the " 'at length' " part. Because there's barely half a page with Butler. It's "featured" on the bottom of page 319, five pages from the end of the book. And, mysteriously, it's not even listed in the index with the other entries under "Butler, Brian."


RodentLady - Could that picture be a still taken from either the McLaughlin or the Best videos? I think that those powerful work-lights set up by some RI emergency agency may have turned the night into garish daylight. But yeah, it's weird-looking with the warm fire glow behind it.

[TommyServo]

Hello, I'm new to the forum, but I'm a freelance audio engineer wannabe, and I've been analyzing portions of the Butler videotape and Pickett audiotape using machine learning solutions that can isolate speech from other sources within a single audio track, come up with ideas for transcripts, audio analysis tools such as RX 10, and editing bits together with Adobe Premiere. The result I have pieced together is what I think a decent transcript of the first minutes of the events would look like. The video uses the first 120 seconds of both the Butler and Pickett tapes and displays subtitles whenever I found words were said for all sources. Sorry for any sound phasing issues that may result.

Video:

[RodentLady]

Guess what the current Mark Kendall version of Great White is doing on tour?


USING PYROTECHNICS ONSTAGE!

See 4:40 and 13:35- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjvDdtb_KYs

[subarctican]

Guess what the current Mark Kendall version of Great White is doing on tour?


USING PYROTECHNICS ONSTAGE!

See 4:40 and 13:35- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjvDdtb_KYs

Those are actually smoke machines that use lights under the smoke jet to mimic the look of pyrotechnics. Kind of like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtfUwbO2xLE So just a visual effect, nothing hot or flammable there, thankfully.

[RodentLady]

Thanks for the industry knowledge, subarctican. That makes it very slightly less horrible. Mock fire that looks real instead of actual fire.

I can think of no benign answer as to why Great White would use such effects.

[billoween]

TommyServo - Welcome, and thanks for sharing your talents. Have you ever read the full Butler transcript that Dion posted on Google Drive some years ago now? It's under "Contents Not From Original Hard Drive," and he still plans to update it with the various audio discoveries made since its first appearance.

RodentLady/Subarctican - Funny, I use two of those same fog machines with the LED lights for my front-yard Halloweens. Kind of weird though that Mark Kendall is okay with even the illusion of fireworks. (mostly when they are set on "strobe.")


Hey, I have I new (fact-checked) ID from the Butler tape:



Here we have the late-exiting Jason Nadeau with his girlfriend, Alison James (behind Charlene Prudhomme). They appear to be holding hands, and Jason is wearing a sweatshirt with the logo of the heavy-metal band Samhain.

Nadeau was later praised for his rescue work at the atrium windows by both firefighter Al St. Jean and policeman Mark Knott. He did get injured while rescuing patrons, and went to South County Hospital in Wakefield.

[sierrarose]

I have read this forum on the station fire off and on for the last few yrs. Also read parts of Killer Show and Gina's book-there is only so much emotional pain I can take. I have read and have a couple questions and I am sorry if these issues have already been covered. I have always wondered if Albert DiBonaventura had ever been ID'd on the Butler tape and where. I have often wondered if he was the slender young man in the pre-show tape that was seen when jody king was going thru the crowd in the front bar area. That young man had glasses-like wire frames and had on a black knit cap and black jacket. The young man was frowning and he looked like Eminem-I mean the way Eminem looked in 2003. I also spotted this young man in the crowd on the right-hand side of the crowd midway down from the stage. People started moving to leave the building and he was at the edge of the crowd looked like he was getting jostled from the people I always wondered if he was Albert and if not, who he was. I still get a haunted feeling about this incident--so much life lost under circumstances that could have easily been prevented. Cutting corners to maximize profits still gets done too much in this world.

[billoween]

Welcome Sierrarose - Could you give us the time stamps for those moments that may show Albert DiBonaventura?

[Lt. Frank Drebin]

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've been here. Billoween is kicking @$$, I see! Excellent work! I'm here unfortunately because of a tragedy in my family. Last Sunday, my 10-year-old nephew passed away in a house fire. Ironic thing is, the night before, I saw the band Trapt with my other brother. The last song they did was "Fire". After the show, we talked about the Station fire and how we saw the same show one week before the fire.

RIP, sweet little Mark. I cannot f'n believe it. I'm devastated and only started to accept it as reality. www.k105.com/2022/11/15/child-unable-to-escape-bell-co-house-fire-perishes-in-blaze/

Cold "Quiet Now": www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s6bjvI5eIg

[cindyt]

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've been here. Billoween is kicking @$$, I see! Excellent work! I'm here unfortunately because of a tragedy in my family. Last Sunday, my 10-year-old nephew passed away in a house fire. Ironic thing is, the night before, I saw the band Trapt with my other brother. The last song they did was "Fire". After the show, we talked about the Station fire and how we saw the same show one week before the fire.

RIP, sweet little Mark. I cannot f'n believe it. I'm devastated and only started to accept it as reality. www.k105.com/2022/11/15/child-unable-to-escape-bell-co-house-fire-perishes-in-blaze/

Cold "Quiet Now": www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s6bjvI5eIg

I'm so sorry this happened. Prayers going up.

[pkstracy]

Frank I am so sorry to hear about this.

[cigardaddio smoke]

Lt. Frank Very sorry to hear of your loss / Prays for you and your family. very strange to hear of your coincidences (?) before the loss. My wife & I are always mystified when we hear of happens like that before a tragedy strikes. Keep the faith sir JD

[CWC67]

Sorry for your loss.
Godspeed.

[RodentLady]

You have my profound condolences, Frank.