Station Nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island 2

[bustakita]

Subarctican - I don't believe that the guy at 5:01 is Sanetti, but it sure is an excellent shot--when precisely paused--of a specific patron I've never really taken in before. So thanks.

Jimmy D - Howdy. I don't believe people were declared dead until they'd been officially "processed." And many victims were not processed until after midnight--which, of course, made it the 21st.

Bustakita - Damn. That was new footage to me. Do you think that was taken from some fixed security camera? Nice find. Yeah, that fire happened on 1-1-09 in Bangkok, Thailand. Seeing that burned survivor getting interviewed...heart-wrenching.

JXG - Your version is quite good; thanks for reposting the link. I think we should get this saved on the Google Drive page with the other videos.

Fuzzybee - Welcome to you, and thanks for pollinating us with your Way Back Machine links.
"Vieira" is a pretty common name in RI. We don't know all that much about survivor Jennifer Vieira. She did work with survivor Mike Vargas at a local GNC store. They met each other at The Station on the 20th, and during the rush to get out, Vargas helped her back up on her feet several times. Still, she was seriously burned before getting pulled out the front door by a fireman. And if it was a fireman who yanked you out, it was definitely late in the game.

I honestly have no idea how I even found that. This type of thing has been happening to me in the last few years. Literally out of osmosis, I'm locating things never seen before. Or I'm noticing things that need to be resolved immediately. And I can't even say where the thought even popped into my mind. It's as if I'm physically acting it out but someone else is literally giving me the thought process to carry through. I always say it's Mother (RIP 2005). I'm very smart on my own thanks to her but I'm always given some unexplained "instant random thought/action to carry out or follow through on. I've located lots of lost media/info in this manner. Also doesn't help that I am always researching catastrophic fires and other disasters. This one really sticks with me every single day, since I discovered it 10 years ago due to this forum. 🤷*♀️🤷*♀️🤯🤯

[cigardaddio smoke]

So sorry for your recent loss - I hope your family heals in time with her beautiful memories of a full life !! God Bless
Jimmy D

[pkstracy]

Cigardaddio if that was meant for me thank you so much, if not opps sorry for assuming. Anyway I am still fascinated by this tragic event and that of the Cocoanut Grove Fire, The Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire, Winecoff Hotel Fire, the Our Lady of Angels School Fire.

[pkstracy]

Bustakia, don't forget to post the link if it hasn't already been done can't wait to read it.

[bustakita]

Hello fellow FAD members and Station thread fam!!! I have NOT seen this article posted yet, but for some reason I actually ran across it quite randomly after doing a Google Lens search for the infamous and intriguing yet hauntingly saddening photo of Jeff Radar. This is an article about that fateful night from the perspective of Mr. Joe Cristina, which was posted back near the end of March this year (2023). I have not read it yet, going to do so now, but wanted to share it with you all first. May open up new dialogue for us here on the thread. Off to read now, will edit this post with any thoughts I may have. Hoping others will do the same if they have thoughts. I've from his perspective directly so this is definitely new to me. I did search to see if it was previously posted, and it was not.

https://hhsnews.net/4497/features/i-...ightclub-fire/

[cigardaddio smoke]

Hi All
pkstracy - yes that was for you, do a little better every day !!

So I was down in RI for our Veterans Sports Clinic this week and I have made it a good time to go by the Memorial and reflect, also to check on the flags on our 5 Veterans who passed that night. It's looking good, the Parks Department takes good care of it.
A few folks were visiting also and one was a friend of Kristin Mc Quarrie, she was very moved that I thought to mark the 5 Veterans with flags to honor them. I told her my story behind the almost going to the show and that I would be remiss if I didnt.
Well I hope everyone is well and I'll keep an eye out on here for more compiling news and info. Take care Jimmy D

[pkstracy]

Hey Cigardaddio, thank you so much. I am glad that you stop by the memorial and honoring the Veterans there.

[dionyzus]

Hello fellow FAD members and Station thread fam!!! I have NOT seen this article posted yet, but for some reason I actually ran across it quite randomly after doing a Google Lens search for the infamous and intriguing yet hauntingly saddening photo of Jeff Radar. This is an article about that fateful night from the perspective of Mr. Joe Cristina, which was posted back near the end of March this year (2023). I have not read it yet, going to do so now, but wanted to share it with you all first. May open up new dialogue for us here on the thread. Off to read now, will edit this post with any thoughts I may have. Hoping others will do the same if they have thoughts. I've from his perspective directly so this is definitely new to me. I did search to see if it was previously posted, and it was not.

https://hhsnews.net/4497/features/i-...ightclub-fire/

Great find bustakita! This was a good article considering it's from a high school newspaper. They interviewed Joe Cristina, his first public interview as far as I know.

We now know that Joe doesn't have a copy of the Matthew Pickett tape. He was allowed to listen to it, but says the lawyers who played it for him stopped it when the fire alarms sounded. That means he got to hear even less of it than has been played publicly by Barylick in his legal presentations. He was told by the lawyers he didn't want to hear the rest, so he didn't ask to hear any further.

On the subject of the tape, the recently posted "cleaned up" version of the Barylick/Pickett audio is amazing! It's really like hearing the first 90 seconds of the Pickett tape after the fire started, with no one (Barylick) talking over it. In case you can't find the link earlier posted by RodentLady, here it is.

[billoween]

pkstracy - Thank you, and thanks for sharing a personal link.

bustakita - Great find, your Cristina piece!

cigardaddio - Yo Jimmy D!

dionyzus - Nice hearing from you.


I got my wife to play around with photoshop some; the goal being to merge NOW with THEN. Let's call it an experiment-in-progress. Not completely successful, but you can see what I'm going for.




So....I finally got to meet Joe Kinan. I was hanging out with John Fairbairn outside a funeral home in Lowell, Massachusetts, just before Todd King's memorial service. Anyway, up strides Joe with Carrie. John and I, almost in unison, were like "Joe--looking sharp!! Because he really did look good: dark suit, sunglasses, big smile, and I swear he must be working out again. So we all shook hands.

Later, when I was re-running the whole experience through my head, I remembered that Joe had lost his left hand. So itwas actually the former hand of Troy Pappas I shook.

Pappas was the Bates College freshman who fell down a stair well in a campus dormitory. He severely fractured his skull and had to be put in a
medically-induced coma. He died on 9-29-12.

Joe is happy to have a ring-finger. And thinking back, his handshake was firm, I'm happy to report.








I'll be in Rhode Island for August. So I may be a little quiet. But in September, watch out: got some new ideas in the works.

[pkstracy]

oh wow that's amazing about Joe and what a wonderful story. Sad about the young man, whose hand Joe now has. Bill Can't wait to hear about those ideas.

[RodentLady]

Bill, I'd love to know how you got the survivors to welcome you as a member of the fam. Instead of dismissing you as a 'disaster ghoul' or 'death hag' or stalker or fan boy or groupie.

I'd like to think that the members of this thread are more like citizen journalists, but most of us are not pursuing real-life friendships with the people we discuss. It's a fascinating development.

[billoween]

RodentLady - Well, I guess I just give off good vibes. And maybe empathy, too.

Because after 6 or 7 years of my hanging out in West Warwick, people have seen that my intentions are good and that they can trust me. They’ve seen that I don’t act like any kind of “groupie.” They know that I’m just trying to follow the truth and capture all their stories before too much time has passed.

Now, I am tactful; I confine the most personal details to my notebooks.

So please understand that I’ve never “pursued real-life friendships with survivors.”
That almost makes me sound conniving or manipulative. Sometimes you just plain hit it off with people after enough time. And these survivor folks have such big hearts, generally. I’ve never felt judged by any of them. They come to me with questions. One survivor calls me “the walking encyclopedia,” and another said I was their “archivist”—ha.

I do know 51 survivors of the fire now, and I’m close with about a dozen. So I feel very fortunate, but just think: there were about 362 survivors total. So there’s that….
Okay, back to vacation, and hi to everyone.

[pkstracy]

Hi Bill that is still impressive. Yep all they want is someone to be understanding and not out to hear the gory details and be a groupie. Thank you for being respectful about it as it also reflects the group here on FAD.

[bustakita]

Someone replied to my comment on another forum and told me that they needed to correct me about a particular song playing that night. I had to comment and provide receipts, because as I am always saying that RECEIPTS ARE LIFE. Im awaiting a response from them.

[dionyzus]

Someone replied to my comment on another forum and told me that they needed to correct me about a particular song playing that night. I had to comment and provide receipts, because as I am always saying that RECEIPTS ARE LIFE. Im awaiting a response from them.

You did indeed bring the receipts buskakita! I'll note that there looks like some miscommunication with the other commenter. They brought up Desert Moon, which was the song Great White started playing as the fire started. But you are correct that Meet Your Maker by Deeds may have been the last full song the victims heard. And I agree that is very haunting.

[pkstracy]

wow that is haunting I didn't catch that, as many times as I watched the full Butler video...good job Buskakita.

[bustakita]

Thanks Dionyzus and pkstracy. That commenter actually responded. I did as well and I was very polite to this I was in my previous comments to them. Their response was very polite as well.

[billoween]

Hey guys--I just returned from Rhode Island, where all the license plates say "The Ocean State." They could just as easily say "The Very Small State," instead, because the degrees of separation between Rhode Islanders is astoundingly minimal.

So maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised to run into a key first-responder to the Station Fire at some random yard sale--of all places.

(John Fairbairn once said that if you throw a rock in Rhode Island it'll more than likely hit someone with a connection to the fire.)


So....sometimes I wear a black cap with "The Station" embroidered on it. And while my son and I browsed through a crazy assortment of items spread over a long table, a woman seated behind it noticed my cap and asked, "Oh, is that the, um, Station?"

Me: "Yeah, the Station Fire in West Warwick. 2003. I know quite a few people now who survived that."

The Woman: "Oh," she said. "You should talk to my husband," and she head-pointed down her side of the table to a man with a trimmed gray mustache. "Mike," she said, getting his attention.

Well, Mike turns out to be none other than Mike DiMascolo, a Chief Deputy Fire Marshal at the time of the fire. And his task the night of the fire: overseeing the extraction of all of the dead from the club. And making certain that each corpse was documented with approximately 5 to 8 photos.

I didn't know what to say to Mike. So I was super-cautious, for sure, uncertain how comfortable he be in talking about any of it. But, of course, Mike's wife hadn't been shy in mentioning him. And luckily, Mike turned out to be one of those who owns his experience of the night, and he started talking about it right away. Here are a few of the things he mentioned:

--Mike said he'd served in the Army for two years. And later, as a veteran Providence firefighter, he'd worked many fatal fires.

--At one point that night Mike grabbed a guitar pick out of the wreckage. On it, it was embossed "Ty Longley."

--It was a West Warwick firefighter, Norman Landroche, who had the straps in his truck that were used to pull apart the entwined bodies.


I did leave the yard sale with two items:
1.) A large rectangular mirror which I liked mostly for its heavy, gothic-style wooden frame. Perfect for Halloween.
2.) A small replica of the Broad Street Fire Station in Providence where Mike DiMascolo had put in so many years.

[pkstracy]

oh wow Bill, amazing story.

[cigardaddio smoke]

Good day ! to all
Hey Bill, how are you ? I just read your out of the blue meeting with Mike DiMascolo. It's really amazing how that happens. I had a one in a million meet with a survivor some years back. I was driving coach bus for a convention in RI, there were probably 15 coaches doing different rides and tours. So I load up and start my run and I have the radio on but just at the front for me, Great White comes on ( I think Once bitten, Twice shy ) and this lady behind me asks " Sir could you please turn that off ". So I do
( I didn't make anything of it - no connection in my brain ) and I hear her talking to her friend about The Station and that its this band that was playing. When they were leaving I asked about how she knew and I told her about my " almost went " story. She said she was close to getting stuck in there and she made it out. I looked at her name lanyard and she was Charley Prudhome sp? . I have seen her name on the thread since then. We wish each other well and she did say to me that going to Bangor GW show instead was the best decision I ever made !! And I would say that running into her like that is one of the very first things that put a bug in my mind about finding out if there was a web page or internet community like this to participate in. And I def have to say I am the better for running into her then, sharing stories with her and this page the last year and a half and participating in the dialogue and meeting good people who care. And the rarest part - 15 or so buses to get on, she gets on mine and sits right behind me first row so she could hear the music and GW comes on at that moment to start the whole episode. What are the odds - it's fate for sure. Cheers Jimmy D

[pkstracy]

Wow great Story, Jimmy.

[bustakita]

Hey, my fellow FAD Fam members! I've got a very unique story to share that I was only able to share with my kids and my old head. I can only say so much due to my job's rules but will share as much as I can!

Mid evening on this past Thurs evening during my HD shift, I received an incoming call from an awesome young lady. I had to ask her to provide her address and she provided it and then asked what do I know about the smallest state in the US. I then said to her: "well, unfortunately, the one and main thing that I know about this state has lived rent free in my head ever since I first found out about it years ago ." I never even mentioned it by name or had to. She IMMEDIATELY knew EXACTLY what I was talking about. She mentioned losing 27 friend in this tragedy. And yes she was in attendance and escaped unharmed physically but was harmed mentally and psychologically. (I will not reveal her name at all for confidentiality purposes. I hope you guys can respect that.)

She also mentioned dating Tracy King, talking about his great strength in general, and being on Letterman. I told her I had the privilege of seeing him on there demonstrating his talents. She said he was an awesome dude and a gentle giant! She also talked about him trying to save people that night. She also was good friends with his brother, Jody, and her best friend dated him for years. She mentioned that she was proud of him working to help the victims and their families receive the justice they deserved. She also mentioned that late last year, he had been the victim of receiving racist flyers posted on and near his residence and how badly it had affected him but he didn't let it stop him from living his normal everyday life and how proud she was of him and all he had accomplished and been through. I
then asked her if she knew he had passed away, and she had not. I let her know that I found out when watching this year's annual SNF memorial service and that Gina R announced it. She said she would have to go find it on YouTube and let her bestie know.

Because I was actually working doing HD, we couldn't get much further into our conversation but she did thank me for being the one who took her call, said it was a pleasure speaking with me and also being able to comfortably speak about the tragedy. I did briefly mention this forum (not by name of course) and how much we all truly care for and about all involved - fan, victims, first responders, etc. She was happy to hear that. I never thought in s million years that THAT convo would ever happen with a survivor and someone deeply connected to the tragedy.

My two adult kids are aware of this as well because I have discussed this with them in the past and occasionally and they couldn't believe that call happened the other day. They were like what are the odds as well.

Just thought I would share my little story.

[pkstracy]

amazing story!

[bustakita]

amazing story!

I am still literally in disbelief that it happened so out of the blue. My son who is 26 was like "Dang Ma Dukes - you was working so I know you couldn't really get into like you probably wish you could, especially with the lady being so comfortable with you and speaking with you about it! What the heck were the odds that YOU got the call, yo!" I said the same thing and that I HAD to share the redacted story with my FAD Fam who would understand it as much as my 4 people family does. They are also always reviewing the setup and surroundings for any concerts we go to - which we go to quite a few yearly. I won't even get the opportunity to mention exits, safety plans, etc before they "blurt out" - "We ALREADY KNOW what you're gonna say, Mom." And proceed to do our little routine run safety down starting with all exits.

[RodentLady]

The survivor who died this year was a man named Todd King.
Not Jody or another of Tracy's brothers.

I PM'd you a few days ago, I guess you didn't see it.

[billoween]

Hey guys—Well, the big Halloween is finally over, so I’m looking forward to re-engaging with my favorite thread soon.
Ben Suffoletto (D) was a big Halloween celebrator and, as an architect, his family said he was skilled at planning elaborate mazes and such.
Survivor Geno Goguen has frequently conjured up big one man costumes, like one where he’s a fortune teller in a booth and, in the photo he shared, it’s this old contraption he has strapped on.
Anyway, talk more soon. I have a 15-yard dumpster coming tomorrow.
Be well all——

[pkstracy]

take care bill and that costume sounded amazing

[bustakita]

The survivor who died this year was a man named Todd King.
Not Jody or another of Tracy's brothers.

I PM'd you a few days ago, I guess you didn't see it.

Oh my goodness! I totally got that wrong and I deeply apologize for that and thanks for the correction! I assumed that when Gina R mentioned it at this year's memorial service it was him. I had no idea there was another Jody King involved with the SNF. Again, my bad for real yo.

[billoween]

At the 19th anniversary gathering in 2022 I met a tearful Sandy Carpenter. She was wearing extra-dark sunglasses and it sounded like she was doing her utmost to keep it together.



She'd been a first-responder on the night of the fire, and this visit to the Memorial was her first time ever back at the scene. Her memories, she said, were a nightmare, and yet she felt she needed to come to the Memorial now as a show of support to the survivors and to the families of the deceased. "This isn't something to forget," she later told WPRI-TV.

Sandy had only been with New England Ambulance Service for a few months when the Station fire became her first big emergency. Basically she was just a rookie paramedic in her 20's when suddenly she and her partner found themselves manning a stretcher at the rail of the still-burning club. She's still plenty haunted by the bad combination of smells from that night.



Sandy thinks that it was Gina Gauvin who she removed from the mess at the front door.

Anyway, she quit the ambulance service shortly after the fire, and has since gone into social work. Such a nice person.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

[billoween]

At the 20th Station Fire Anniversary last February, I had a conversation with a video technician who was working inside the satellite truck of a Providence TV station. Near the end of it he made a bit of a confession: squirreled away at home he has a pristine copy of Butler's video.
Hmmm...who knows? I'm going to have to talk to him at the next anniversary.

[billoween]

Survivor Dave B. told me that the last thing he could remember--before passing out--was lying on a stretcher inside a moving ambulance while an EMT cut off the remnants of his blue, long-sleeved jersey to expose his burnt back.

Ten days later he woke up in the ICU at Rhode Island Hospital. "When I woke up they moved me to a different bed by a window," Dave said. "That's when I could see the Russian submarine, when I could turn my head."

This sub Dave was seeing from his hospital view was a 300-foot Russian submarine moored off Collier Point Park, in the Providence River. The attraction was called "The Russian Submarine Museum," and it had opened in 2002.

The submarine was built in the 60's and once carried four nuclear missiles. It had been decommissioned in 1994. Soon, it became a novel restaurant and vodka-bar in Helsinki. Some years later it became a restaurant docked in Tampa. It's next gig was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it served as the main set for the film "K-19: The Widowmaker."

Dave B.: "It became a goal of mine to visit the sub when I got out. And, eventually, me and my wife did go. Then it sank in a storm [in April 2007] after they'd left the hatch open."

It was sold for scrap in 2009. But it had given this seriously injured Station survivor something to aspire to.

[bustakita]

Wow Billoween! Thanks to you and Dionysus (hoping I'm mentioning the correct other FAD fam member &#129310 the intense and very informative deepening of further details and information and actual facts continues to REALLY humanize the people who were a part of this historical event in so many different ways! Even 20 years later - you think you've seen and heard everything regarding the SNF and continue to learn even more. Thanks yo to ALL my fellow FAD fam who continue to work so hard to ensure this special group of people, those still with us and those who Aren't, are never forgotten. Also wanting to wish you all a happy wateva you celebrate going into 2024!
~ Bustakita 🤓

[billoween]

How about a very likely ID of a survivor to end 2023?

I used to think that this animated club-goer in the pre-show was Scotty Dunbar. But now I'm convinced it's none other than Phil Barr, the Bates swimmer who suffered some bad inhalation injuries in the fire before getting out the bar door.

[Noelle1966]

Hi Billoween - do you believe that he is the gentleman in the white shirt with both hands overhead? I read his story and it was quite inspiring.

[billoween]

Hey Noelle--Yup. And there are a few details beyond just his toothy-looks that help back up this ID:

1.) Phil Barr was a competitive swimmer at Bates College. Notice how strong this guy looks in the previous photos.

2.) Barr said he was at a spot near the stage. That checks out.

3.) Barr said he was wearing both a cap and a t-shirt with Dale Earnhardt logos. While it's hard to make them out specifically, I do see what could be logos on his cap and shirt.

4.) Barr got to The Station super early. He was meeting his old friend from a Quaker high school there, Evan Clabots, who got to the club quite late; it was about the same time that Butler arrived. So this, I believe is Clabots near the stage in the pre-show. He's just to the right of where we saw the cheering Phil Barr.

[Sparklymantra]

LLC, thanks for the info. I've read through most of the original thread, but it's been a while so I know I've missed some things.

It would be awesome if we could recreate an ID list from the video again. I caught another possible ID, someone who looks like Kevin Washburn in the pre-show video. It happens so quick, it was hard to catch, but I managed to get a decent screenshot:

Hi CommanderAmander (love your username),

I know this is a very old post, but it seems that you were really hoping to get some kind of confirmation as to whether or not you caught an image of Kevin Washburn at the station moments before the fire broke out.

I will start by saying that Kevin Washburn is an old friend of mine, in fact, one of my best friends for quite some time. There was a period in life where we were inseparable and hung out all the time including going to clubs. As someone very much familiar with Kevin, how he looked, his facial expressions, mannerisms, how he dressed, I can say with absolute confidence and 100% certainty that the person in the screen shot you took is not Kevin Washburn. For those around him all the time, it’s very easy to notice the differences, including the facial expressions the man in the photo makes, are not the type that Kevin ever did, nor is that how he looked from the side. But I can see how it could be challenging for others. I myself have tried to find him at the show. I even tried to go by the knowledge I have of his club habits, and where I would usually see him stand or how he would approach the stage area (which he would normally keep a distance). I heard he was last seen at the bar shortly before the band came on. I suppose he would have quickly turned and edged into the back left area (as I would see him do many times in the past when out at clubs and the band came on after purchasing a drink. But he was also about 5 ft 2 or 3” and could have been blocked out by taller folks. I haven’t found him yet in any footage. I do hope who ever was in the photo made it out, and he doesn’t look like any of those who died so there is an excellent chance that he did.

I also learned from other posts you were very interested in hearing a bit of how Kevin was. Kevin was the type of person who was friendly to everyone, but painfully shy at times, and never had a mean word to say about others. He would let you crab and vent about others but he would just lend his ear and listen while not really engaging; preferring to try to distract your attention away from whoever upset you. As for the shyness, I recall onetime, he was interested in this young lady but was terrified of asking her out. He decided to ask me to stand next to him to give him moral support and courage when doing the asking. He, of course was very nervous and fumbled a bit, but in the end, got to the asking. He also use to like to come up with some creative stories based on some of his favorite characters to tell you all about. Sometimes at parties I would have to listen to these stories for about an hour when he flagged me down to bend my ear. lol. Of course ai wanted to mingle but I would patiently listen because I didn’t want to bum him out. The newspapers mentioned him drawing cartoons he created. Me, Dave S and Carl R got him into that when he noticed us doing that. We would all take a corner of a poster board, start making these characters and naming them. Apparently, he still enjoyed that kind of creativity. Another thing, there was many times in discussions you would be thinking one thing while he was thinking another thing, but you had thought you were both thinking the same thing until you realized you weren’t. This is hard to describe, but his big sister Sharon gave the best example of this when she spoke at his funeral. As she explained, she had been in a car accident, was not hurt but very shaken up. She was at the kitchen table and Kevin noticed that she was a wreck. So he asks her “Gee Sharon, do you need a drink?” She said yes. Now she was thinking he was going to pour her something from the liquor cabinet. Much to her surprise, he instead came back with a great big glass of milk! She hates milk but attempted to suffer through drinking it because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings or explain that they had different thinking about the drink. I loved her sharing that story as it was so like him.

if you have anything you wanted to ask about him, please don’t hesitate to shoot me a message. I figured I would share some interesting details that was beyond the vagueness of just saying how nice or sweet he was.

[RodentLady]

Welcome aboard, Sparklymantra!
Thank you for the personal insights.

[ChicagoBorn]

100 always remembered

[pkstracy]

remembering them today

[RodentLady]

Whoever runs the official 48 Hours youtube channel (not sure if it's viewable outside the US) must have known that it was an anniversary because they've just uploaded their excellent episode from 2021 "The Station Nightclub Fire: Who's Responsible?" where the D brothers admitted "The door went back up."

I was 29 back on Station Nightclub Fire Night and now I'm 50! The five unborn babies of dads who died in the fire are 20 and will turn 21 over the next several months.

[billoween]

[billoween]

Hi All--

So, there was a lot of shoveling to be done at The Memorial if it was going to be visitable come Tuesday the 20th. I got up to West Warwick in the late afternoon on Friday the 16th and started in on snow and ice.

Eventually, a 60-something guy pulled in in his SUV, and he said he wanted to help.

After a while he voluntarily admitted that he was there the night of the fire. And as a West Warwick firefighter, no less. So I'm thinking, Holy Shit, WW firefighters are known for keeping an unofficial silence about the fire. So you can bet I went real easy with any comments or questions, and mostly just let him talk.

Well, he turned out to be none other than David Pimental, the third firefighter on the scene at the Station. He was the driver of Engine #1, the tower ladder truck which pulled in in a straight line behind Engine #4, the very first apparatus to arrive. He and his partner, Norman Landroche, basically worked the front door until the bitter end.

Pimental, who retired in 2011, seemed okay with talking about the fire now--at least in small increments. I liked him, and he was enjoying a fat cigar the whole time we visited.


---He has seen himself in some of the footage because he was the only firefighter wearing orange reflectors on the sides of his helmet.

---He's good friends with Cranston firefighter Steve Burgess. Burgess, you may recall, was the firefighter-on-a-date the night of the fire. He ended up helping at bar windows and then moved on to helping with the hoses. Later, he was denied funding to see a therapist for his PTSD because he was technically an off-duty fireman that night, and they were afraid it might set a precedent.

---Pimental said that when they used straps to pull people out, they had to be super careful so as not to deglove anyone who might be alive.

---He described the awful feeling of helplessness he experienced that night, just knowing they'd never be able to save everyone there. At one point he locked eyes with a man who was close but still too deep in the flames to be saved. Pimental couldn't get to him, and the man's look back at him seemed to acknowledge this sad fact, as he disappeared in the smoke and fire.

[pkstracy]

oh Bill what a sad story, but glad you got to talk to him.

[Noelle1966]

Such a sad story, but it was good of him to go there and help. Wish that assistance could have been offered to Mr. Burgess.

[billoween]

Hey Pkstracy. Hey Noelle. What's up, RodentLady?


Notes from the 21st Anniversary

Encountered:
--Tracey Romanoff's father.
--Shawn Sweet's brother, Dan.
--Tawnya Kelly, survivor and Ed Corbett's girlfriend.
--Leigh Ann Moreau's parents.
--Katie O'Donnell's youngest brother (she had 5 plus a sister).
--Stacie Angers's brother David.
--Tom Barnett's co-worker, Michael Authelet. ("He could always crack me up.")
--"Pete," a retired Scituate Rescue firefighter I visit with every anniversary. One of the very few things he has ever said about the fire is this: On the way home from the fire he had to pull over every few miles and throw up.
--Two West Warwick firemen who'd rescued patrons from the front corridor. It was the first time either one had ever been back to the site. They declined to be interviewed on the local news cameras, but they were okay talking briefly to other visitors at the Memorial. But they were pretty choked up.




--Met survivors Chris Blacklock and Patricia Clarke, a couple at the time of the fire and still a couple now. They never did marry.

On 2/20/2003 they couldn't decide on whether or not to go see Great White. Chris's dad had just died the week before. But as Patricia had told Chris, "He would want you to go and live your life." So they arrived at The Station at 10 pm, planting themselves right at the kitchen's take-out window. They'd been to The Station "dozens of times."

In the fire, while manuvering to the bar door--which he'd suddenly remembered--Chris felt his leather jacket catch on something. He pulled back on it sharply, which freed him to get to the door. Well, it turned out that his jacket was just being held on to for dear life by Patricia. About forty-five seconds later a man in a gray-hooded sweatshirt pushed her through to the outside. One of her vivid memories is of liquor bottles at the main bar exploding.

Chris and Patricia had seen Jack Russell's solo show some months earlier at Jared's Place, a small (and some said dangerous) club in Attleboro, Massachusetts.



The two WW firefighters

[Shellie]

Apologies if already posted but I was on YT and saw 48 Hours had uploaded an episode about the fire on YT. Not sure if it is new or old but it's called The Station Nightclub Fire: Who's Responsible? Here's the link if anyone is interested and as far as I am aware it's not just for US viewers as I am in the UK and got to see it.

[billoween]

Sparklymantra - Welcome, and thanks for your memories of Kevin Washburn.

Shellie - Some folks may not have seen this video yet, so thanks for posting it. Brilliant!


I sure hope our ID-loving Lt. Frank still checks in here on occasion, because I believe I can now identify a "new" survivor from the 3-minute mark (on most versions of the Butler video).

Yeah, a man in a gray T-shirt approaches the camera right after the tape briefly breaks up. I now think this is 34 year-old Eric Malardo, a carpenter from Coventry.



Malardo reported that he was knocked down and trapped between the main bar and the back wall of the ticket booth. When he finally got back on his feet, he says he broke or--in another statement--"opened" the bar window next to the front doors.

Survivor Missy Minor says it was Malardo who "picked her up and took her out the [bar] window," and then someone else caught her outside.

Survivor Vikki Potvin-Eagen, who got out seconds in front of Minor, told the Providence Journal this: "My thanks go to the . . . hero who put out the flames on my best friend and surely saved her life."


-----So here's why I think this guy is Eric Malardo:




1.) Malardo reports that he got out the bar window next to the front doors. Check.

2.) He says he was wearing a gray, short-sleeved T-shirt. Check.

3.) He says he was burned more on his left-side than his right. Check.

4.) He comes out about the same time as Vikki Potvin-Eagen. Check.

5.) He resembles the graduation photo of an Eric Malardo in a Knotty Oak High School (Coventry) yearbook. Check.

6.) Being in the "Class of '87" would make him about 34 years-old. Check.

7.) He very much resembles a recent social media photo of an Eric Malardo from Coventry. There is a similar hairline and some scarring on the left side of his mouth.

8.) A fireman who knew Eric growing up said, "Well, it sure looks like Eric," after he was shown these same photos.

[pkstracy]

Good job, Bill, that could be him.

[RodentLady]

Nice work, Bill!

--------------------------
Survivor Rob Feeney identified his location in the parking lot after he escaped:


(source: The 1:01 mark of this clip-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haFyMFfsoAE)


--------------------------
Scripps News covered The Station very respectfully in an episode of its 2024 series HINDSIGHT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nHTg-v1y4o

It features new interviews with Gina Russo and John Barylick.
Where would be without Gina? My gosh, her tireless work as the voice of all "surviving victims" is heroic.

[billoween]

RodentLady - Those were great finds. Thank you. So good to have it finally confirmed by Feeney himself that he was indeed the guy leaning on the bus.
That was a sweet video with Gina. I was at the Memorial for the eclipse, and it happened that Gina brought most of her family. My admiration for her has only increased over time and it was already high to begin with.