Frank, that really really sucks. I’m sure your brother is appreciating your presence through all this.
Death Hag
Frank, that really really sucks. I’m sure your brother is appreciating your presence through all this.
Death Hag
Our own Lt. Frank ID-ed Jose Roberto Demos from the Butler pre-show several years ago. He's the club-goer who turns and squints into Butler's camera at about 1:53. Demos, a 33 year-old janitor from Lowell, Massachusetts, came to the club alone and said he didn't know anyone there. He'd also come down to see Dokken at The Station on 1-2-03.
I'm only bringing him up now because of a mention of him in an old Providence Journal I just found. A reporter said that it is Demos who's seen repeatedly pointing to the exit on Butler's fire video. I also learned that Demos was 6'-3" tall, which is probably why it's so easy to see him doing all that pointing.
In his witness statement Demos told the West Warwick police that he was pushing an unknown man toward the front doors while "pointing and yelling [for everyone] to get out."
He was burned some before he could break out of the front pile-up. Then he ran straight to his car and drove home to Lowell, where he went to Saint Memorial Hospital.
That's a 2-hour drive, and it makes me wonder what all was going on in his head during that trip. Definitely sounds like it was a lonely night for Jose Demos.
Death Hag
Remember how Daniel Biechele wrote 100 letters of apology while in detention in Florida?
Well, a family who lost their daughter shared their hand-written letter from Biechele with me.
To the family and friends of ________.
The pain you have endured for the past three years is unthinkable. I am writing to you now to try to express to you how sorry I am that you have had to endure that pain. The fact that I had a part in the tragedy that took ________'s life that horrible night is something I will regret until the day I die.
From what I have read, Great White was one of ________'s favorite bands. If I had known that my actions would bring anything but enjoyment to her, and everyone else there, I never would have even started the show. I would give anything to be able to go back in time and change the outcome of that night.
The pain that I have caused to so many people is something I will live with until the end of time. I know that nothing I can say or do can ever undo this tragedy, but I can only hope that you will accept my sincerest apology and know that you will forever be in my thoughts and prayers.
I am so sorry for your suffering, Dan Biechele
Death Hag
"The Guest List: America's Deadliest Rock Concert" is now free on the website Tubi. I signed up with an email address, there's nothing else needed. Thanks to youtuber The Alan Rosenberg Show for spreading the news!
From 1:19:37, a good amount of the actual guest list was shown partially blurred at different times. Here's the left-hand column of names, points of ellipses indicating blurred out areas:
Wayne Denton
Brenda Denton
Keith Denton
Tina F...
Peggy Allspach
Mary S...
Bruce... (D?)
Tina Ayer
Scott Allspach
John DiRobio
Danny DiRobio
Jackie Bernard
Screenshots: I recommend downloading them to zoom in on details.
Update: Looks like many of those folks are relatives. The correct spelling of Dirobio is DeRobbio. Sorry to be morbid, but they are mentioned in local obituaries:
"Joseph M. DeRobbio, 65 passed away December 7, 2020 at the Providence VA Medical Center...brother of Debra Seltzer, Peggy Allspach, John and Daniel DeRobbio, the late Cheryl DeRobbio."
"DeRobbio, Jonathan J., 30, passed away unexpectedly at home September 8, 2016...nephew of Debra Seltzer, Peggy Allspach, John and Daniel DeRobbio..."
Death Hag
Season's Greetings all--
RodentLady - Nice sleuthing on the guest list. There IS a list in the RIAG materials, buried on page 6 of the 96-page folder titled, "Lead Sheets and Witnesses.pdf".
JR = Jack Russell
DF = David Felice (bass player for GW)
PW = Paul Woolnaugh (JR's personal manager and owner of Tapestry Artists)
Luckily, 12 from this list were no-shows. All the club needed were even more bodies inside it, right?
I always have to suppress a dark laugh over the 2 patrons (they survived) that purchased "Meet & Greet" tickets. Yeah, like that was ever even close to happening.
Remember how Jack Russell got Skot Greene to give him a heart tattoo (with "SUE" inside it) on his "pelvic region"--just hours before the show? If he hasn't already had it removed, it sure must haunt him now. Four of the five people he invited from the "Doors of Perception" tattoo shop that night perished only hours later.
Death Hag
Excellent, Bill! Thank you. I must have seen that in 2015 and forgotten it in the meantime; because that's when I looked at EVERY file in the google drive. For anyone interested, it's in "Phase 4," then "Miscellaneous Box #3." On my computer, "Lead Sheets and Witnesses" was a continuous scroll down and the guest list was page 12.
The myth is that almost everyone on the guest list died. The reality is that some were so unimpressed that they didn't even go! Attorney Barylick did more than just take liberties with the truth in his book: He wrote that everyone on the guest list was at the club by 10:30! Not just the several he had named and described on the preceding pages.
Death Hag
Found a picture of Mike Vargas that I'd never seen before. It’s him emerging from hell.
Death Hag
Hey Everybody Hope 2023 has been good to all ! I recently passed by the memorial for the VA and check on our Veterans flags, it looked good. I will be away on a big boat during the anniversary ( 20th, WOW - time does fly ! ) but I wanted to send my best love & hopes to all involved and affected by this event that seems to echo thru time. I hope the 20th year finds everyone with more hope & calmed spirits to build a great future on.
Billoween ( or anyone on this forum ) - if you are going to be there please let me know if any of the flags get damaged or go missing and I will shoot down and make it right. Thanks buddy !
One question for the mass of knowledge on this forum :: Who are Lisa Marie Scott and Jen Stoward ? Victims ? Attendees ? Let me know if you can, their names popped up during my research. God Bless for a great 2023 !! Jimmy D
Death Hag
Hey, Jimmy D - I was just at the Memorial this weekend, and the flags were all looking good.
I had a talk there, by the way, with Jimmy, the owner of Astro Wreckers. He hauled away half of the cars left behind in the Station's parking lot. He remembers all too well the shoes scattered all over the scene. He also recalls having to get a lot of new keys made up. He never charged anyone or any family for the tows OR for the keys.
Lisa Marie Scott - she was the survivor (via bar door) who fell down some stairs at her home in Johnston and died, exactly six months after the fire, on 8/20/03. She'd worked at the deli of a Providence Stop n Shop for over a decade. She came to the show with Stephanie Simpson.
Jennifer Lee Stowers - she, like Lisa Scott, was another Station survivor (via Main Door), who died at home shortly after the fire, on 5/21/03. The medical examiner couldn't tell whether the Zoloft overdose that killed Stowers, an elementary school teacher, was intentional or if she hadn't been able to properly metabolize the drug. She was found by her fiancee, slumped on a couch alongside some student papers and a broken wine glass. (Note: alcohol does increase the effects of Zoloft.) She'd been prescribed the anti-depressant for the trauma of the fire, which included losing several friends. Her wedding had been set for that coming 4th of July, and she was buried in her wedding dress. Her fiancee, Doug Quintal, said, "the fire changed her."
Death Hag
Thanks for the update on those ( I want them to look good for the 20th ) ! Also Thanks for the info on those 2 names - it's a shame to escape and then it catches up with you shortly thereafter, although I can understand the fiancée saying that it changed
her. Something that traumatic, some folks just physically can't stand up to that and breakdown in their body and mind.
I hope alot of healing takes place on the anniversary ! Take care all Jimmy D
Death Hag
Lisa Scott's daughter posting one year ago from a blank youtube channel simply called Sara:
"My mom was in that building that night. Luckily, she got out. But, 6 months later to the exact day, she died after falling down our basement stairs. She died instantly from a traumatic brain injury. I was 4. I remember vividly how much this night changed her. She physically survived this fire, but mentally, she spiraled. I miss her every day. I wish she was alive of course, but am forever grateful she didn't burn alive as her cause of death."
-------------------------------------
In the same massive comments section (under this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PztDBsPBss) is this man claiming to be a survivor:
He said that thankfully he was right near the front door and was claustrophobic, so walked out quickly.
-------------------------------------
Garrison Keillor's song/poem about the fire:
https://www.prairiehome.org/story/20...ite-flash.html
Didn't I hear this in one of the documentaries?
Administrator
hhhh I am calling BS on that guy being there....I don't know how many people I have seen on social media claiming to have been there and when asked about that night or called out, they quickly logged off or deleted their accounts.
Death Hag
Hi All -
RodentLady - Nice find from Lisa Scott's daughter.
Here's something curious.
At the point where The Station is engulfed in flames and beyond hope, it appears that two friends, both Coventry firefighters, couldn't resist taking a bunch of their own photos.
Interestingly, one of the fireman, a volunteer named Geoffrey Read, had to meet up with two detectives at the Coventry Dept. of Public Works garage a whole 8 months after the fire (on 10-21-03). There, "Read voluntarily turned over copies of pictures taken by himself and Fireman Chris Levelle.”
(Note: In the RIAG materials, Read's name is sometimes spelled "Reed," and Levelle's name is sometimes spelled "Levilee.")
One of Read's photos was used by Barylick for the cover of his book "Killer Show." (below)
By the way, another Read photograph just happened to catch this couple, Chris and Diane. (below) They had tickets for Great White, but were stuck in their car in the parking lot of The Cowesett Inn because they were having an argument.
They'd tried hashing it all out, so as to clear the air enough to still go over and enjoy the show together. But soon they became aware of an intense glow coming from across the street.
So that's lucky, right?, that they'd never entered The Station that night. Yes, but the bad news is that before they found parking at The Cowesett Inn, they had dropped off their friends, Mike Stefani and Kevin Washburn (D), at the front of the club.
Soon, Mike and Kevin would be in a long line for the men's room, just minutes before Great White came out. Mike, though, suddenly decided to use the Ladies Room, and when he came out he gave a laugh to Kevin--still in line. So Mike split for the main bar to grab them a pitcher of beer, and he never would see his friend Kevin Washburn again.
Junior Death Hag
Hi all, not checked in for some time, hope everyone is doing well. Bill glad to see such great research you're doing especially with the lack of any new material release. Coming up on 20 years now... Thinking of all the victims and their families.
Death Hag
My local CBS affiliate has an article about the upcoming 20-year-anniversary of the fire:
20 years later: 100 people killed, 230 others hurt in nation's 4th-largest nightclub fire | WRGB (cbs6albany.com)
One thing I think is terrible is what Gina Russo details about Jack White and his "fund raising" for victims. Apparently, he has not donated a cent.
Administrator
Death Hag
Thinking of the 100 beautiful people lost on this day, as well as the ALL OF the survivors. 😢😢This was a bad date in history and I can't believe it has been TWENTY years since this happened. I'm sure it is still as if it just happened for the survivors and the lost loved ones families and friends.
Administrator
Thinking of all of them today.
Death Hag
Thinking of all the beautiful souls who were lost today. ❤️
Death Hag
May the 100 we lost 20 years ago tonight never be forgotten, nor their loved ones who carry on with them in their memory.
On another note, I've been off the forum for a while, but I was sorry to hear of your family's loss, Frank.
Junior Death Hag
Thinking of the victims, the survivors, and everyone here on the forum on this 20th anniversary. Watching The Guest List again as I write this. 😢💔🙏
Junior Death Hag
Great White would’ve been set up and ready to start🥺 Bulter’s pre-show footage would’ve started around here. Everyone would’ve been getting ready to have a great time… not knowing the horrific cruel fate that awaited them not even 10 minutes from now and those who survived who’s lives would forever be changed.Originally Posted by MoCushle86
R.I.P. to these beautiful souls that died on this horrible night. We haven’t forgotten about you😭💔
Death Hag
Sunday and Monday at the Memorial were simply incredible. Met 10 survivors for the first time. Pretty emotional.
Once I get my act back together here at home I’ll start posting again.
Death Hag
Survivors Robert Riffe (from the notorious door photo) and Ryan Fleck recorded a 19-minute episode of Rob's podcast about that night:
https://anchor.fm/random-nonsense/ep...vmss/a-a9b9i68
Around 16:40, Rob describes receiving a catalogue with photos of belongings recovered from the site. He saw his shoes and had them returned, which he keeps sealed in the original evidence bag.
A photo I found on the internet claiming to be 'our' Rob Riffe:
-------------------------------------------
At 16:20 in this interview, Gina Russo spends six minutes describing the disappointment with her involvement in the Scott James book:
https://btown.buzzsprout.com/163601/...ial-foundation
Selfishly, I hoped that I'd finally hear the Foundation's story of the mistaken number on the plaque.
It was nice to learn that John Barylick donates all of his speaking fees when he talks about the fire.
Death Hag
Death Hag
Two programs I found. First One is regarding the anniversary
https://youtu.be/K8Z2jTQUX8E
Second one is a new to us release of the local broadcast from the night/next day during and after the fire.
https://youtu.be/oKH6-tR53AM
Death Hag
Oh man - I missed the 20-year anniversary of this tragedy. Time is going-by way too fast for me. 20 years already? I can still remember stopping at the gas station on the way to the Great White concert on 2/13/03, shielding our faces from the light of the pyrotechnics, and listening to Jack Russell brag about the amount of substances he's done. And then came the day of my last day of work for a week before I embarked on a Caribbean cruise when my co-workers broke the news to me about that "washed-up hair band killing 100 people".
Billoween - I don't know where you're discovering this stuff, but you are bringing it! I was in it, but then life events came along...
Dionyzus - Thank you for the condolences.
Death Hag
JXG - thanks man.
Shylurker, pkstracy, Rodentlady, and bustakita - thanks all for posting those great links.
Lt. Frank - glad to see you're alive and kicking.
Amanda - you too!
I had a lot on my plate after getting back from 3 days in Rhode Island. So I will convey more about the 20th Anniversary experience in upcoming posts. I have to tell you up right front, though, that it was exciting to get to meet these 12 survivors for the first time:
--Glenn Therriault
--Jack Rezendes
--George Solitro
--Milisa Bump
--Jason Hargreaves
--Neil Cronin
--Mike Magee (had spoken on the phone; now he's moved back to RI)
--Melissa Stephenson
--Scotty Dunbar
--Dave Malagrino
--Eric Williams
--Robin Petrarca
Plus I got to hang out with Shannon Cicerchia. She was Keith Mancini's fiancee, and was 25 at the time of the fire. She'd run into the Station, just minutes before the pyro began, to tell Keith that she was going down the street to "Shooters" (now gone) to meet a girlfriend and play pool. She said that when she turned around to leave Dr. Metal was on stage introducing Great White.
She had two kids when she met Keith, and in 2022 one of them left this comment on a Reddit site:
"My mom was there that night. Her fiancee died in the fire along with 14 of her friends. In a different video you can see her run by, she has just gone down the street to play pool. Came back and the club was engulfed in flames."
Well, Shannon was a real ball of energy at the 11:07 get-together at the Memorial, dancing with friends and not even wearing a jacket in the 40-degree weather. I told her that I had an extra jacket in my car, but she declined the offer.
The next morning, while I was re-running all the anniversary scenes through my head, I suddenly remembered the fact (it's confirmed) that Keith Mancini died going back for his favorite leather jacket. Weird somehow, me offering HER a jacket.....
(If you ever go to the Memorial, I would strongly suggest staying at the Springhill Suites, It's just been renovated and it is vastly superior to the nearby going-downhill Comfort Inn. Anyway, the Springhill is all of 8 minutes from the Memorial.)
There will be another anniversary observance on Sunday, May 21st, which will mark the 6th anniversary of The Memorial. Donations to the park are always welcome, by the way, via the website.
Death Hag
On 2/20/03, Paul Pelletier of Pawtucket was on his second or third date with Charline Gingras-Fick (D). In the chaos inside the Station that night, they got separated near the bar windows.
On 2/20/23, Paul and I were talking at the Station Memorial. I was able to pinpoint for him right where the bar windows had been, and it was there we stood. He told me he got out the slim window just to the left of the big bar window. He remembers just frantically searching for Charline then, only to be repeatedly hauled back from the building by the police.
Finally someone suggested he look for Charline amongst the injured at The Cowesett Inn. So he did, experiencing yet another level of hell for his efforts; there was still no sign of Charline.
Paul shows up every anniversary for the 11:07 gathering. But he never attends the anniversary dinners inside the Cowesett Inn, and I've never seen him inside the place before. But it's not hard to imagine why:
-----One volunteer nurse, Jean Crawford of West Warwick, after attending to several victims at the Cowesett, had to be taken to a hospital herself due to severe anxiety attacks. 3 weeks later she wrote this on Facebook:
"I lost a part of myself at that fire that night...I am still hoping it will come back. I have not been able to return to work, watch TV, or even drive down the road [past the site] which I live one minute from. I cannot sleep, I have nightmares...I can't get certain people out of my head."
-----Mental health counselors were quickly made available to those half-dozen Cowesett Inn staffers who'd stayed on to help that night. Some, though, never came back to work there.
-----Then, too, there was bartender Jennifer Choquette's comment to the Grand Jury:
"I tried going into the Cowesett Inn...but I was like ill...like very, very sick because I saw things that I didn't ever want to see in my life, and [that] I wish no one would ever see in their life."
Death Hag
Administrator
Folks, please do not put links to free movie sites you can however say what site it's on.
Death Hag
Billoween --I'm here in the background checking in occasionally. Wish I could get back into that passion I had a little while ago.
Junior Death Hag
Besides the video that is on YouTube and one that has been seen by many over the years, hearing the miscellaneous radio transmissions and phone calls as this tragedy unfolded, is chilling. Absolutely chilling
Death Hag
Hiya All--
Lt. Frank - Oh, you'll get your passion back. And we still need your ID-ing talents.
Anyway, here are more people I encountered at the 20th Anniversary:
-Freddy Crisostomi's niece.
-Friends of Andrew Hoban's family.
-A friend of Jude Henault's.
-Mick, a longtime friend of Sam Miceli's.
-Tom Barnett's daughter's step-sister.
-A friend of Bill Cartwright's.
-Two of Bridgett Sanetti's aunts.
-Shawn Sweet's cousin, Stephen Sweet, a Quincy firefighter who played bagpipes briefly, as he had at Sweet's funeral 20 years ago.
-A friend of Michael Cordier's.
-Tawnya Kelly, Ed Corbett's girlfriend, who survived that night.
-Tracey Romanoff's father.
-"Dee," a friend of Lisa D'Andrea's and fellow-teacher.
-Many family members and friends of the Suffoletto's.
-Dr. Metal's brother, Eddy Gonsalves. (below)
-An old friend of Michael Hoogasian's. He remembered having fun at Hoogasian's bachelor party, which was held at The Station.
-Two former boyfriends of Becky Shaw's. One of them was "Carpenter," who has spoken about Becky here, on the thread, on more than one occasion.
-Becky Shaw's college roommate, visiting the site for the very first time.
-Friends and former clients of Skott Greene's. Some were still the proud owners of his tattoos.
-Scott, an old friend of Richard Cabral's. He said that Cabral had helped him get a job as a machinist once. His last name, unfortunately, is "Vieira," and it just didn't seem like the time or the place to tell him about our favorite bouncer.
-Len Angers, Stacie's father, who is a heck of a nice guy. ("Angers" is pronounced "ANN-jurrs," by the way.) We had lunch together and Len talked some about the daughter he lost. Stacie was a detective at a Worcester agency, and worked plenty of insurance fraud cases. Len said she drove a bright yellow sports car but would borrow his non-descript sedan whenever she needed to be more low-profile. (below)
-Scott DeCosta, one of Mary Baker's four children, who was 11 years-old at the time of the fire. I happened to have a nice photo of his mother on my phone, and it was one he'd never seen before. And he said that if I found other things related to his Mom, to please send them on to him.
So then I showed him survivor Scott Moresco's witness statement--thank you iPhone. Moresco, who was with his girlfriend Robin Precourt, mentions running into old friends Mary Baker and Kathy Sullivan before the show. He also said that the pair were right behind him in the rush to the front door.
MISC.
*The "SUE" that Jack Russell wanted ,put inside the heart tattoo Skott Greene gave him, was a reference to his then-girlfriend, Susan Aldritch (or Aldrich) of Palm Springs.
*Supposedly, Dr. Metal was at one time dating Lisa Kelly (D).
*The Cowesett Inn doesn't offer rooms. "Inn" is just an old-fashioned term; very New England.
Death Hag
1.) "Good, they have soundproofing now." - West Warwick P.O. Mark Knott's first thought to himself, back in 2002, after seeing the newly-installed foam behind the stage.
2.) "Who would line the inner walls of a nightclub with flammable soundproofing?" - GW guitarist Mark Kendall in Guitar World Magazine.
3.) "Oh my God! I can't believe they're still playing." - Survivor Bill Long, Trip's road manager, to himself, as he watched flames hit the ceiling.
4.) "I always called The Station 'the accident-waiting-to-happen.' One of the last things I said to my wife that night before I left with my friends to go to The Station was, "Well, time to go to the accident-waiting-to-happen.' " - Survivor Dave Brennan.
5.) "When that fire accelerated, the speed by which it moved through the Station was something I hadn't seen in my 20 years as a firefighter." - Peter Ginaitt, Warwick Fire Captain.
6.) "When I first got that call from my brother's best friend, in an early hour of the morning, the phone kept ringing off the hook. He said, 'Tommy went to a concert and there was a fire.' And the first thing I thought of was 'Well, it's a kitchen fire. No big deal.' Then you turned on the news. Oh yeah, it's quite a big deal." - Timothy Fleming, brother of Tom Fleming (D).
7.) "I was sandwiched between 4 giant guys, and my feet didn't touch the ground on the way out." - Kristen Arruda, girlfriend of Fathead lead singer Tom Conte, who left the club just seconds before the big pile-up.
8.) "I concentrated all my energy on [saving] my wife, because we've got five children at home . . . I couldn't do it by myself." - Survivor John Fairbairn, who was stuck in the front pile-up with his now ex-wife, Andrea.
9.) "I must have passed out. But I really thought I died." - Survivor Erin Whalen-Cowan, who was trampled and "used as a springboard" somewhere between the main bar and the back-wall of the ticket booth, before getting helped by a stranger to the window next to the front doors.
10.) "This was my first time at the club, but I'd been at both ends of the [horseshoe] bar and noticed the windows. That knowledge saved my life. I thought, I'm either going to die doing something or die doing nothing. I jumped over the bar, hit the ground, and ran through a window." - Survivor George Guindon, a painter on the guest list with Rick Sanetti's group. He got out the far left bar window (facing the club).
11.) "The light of the person who was taking the video.....was almost helpful, because [with] the bright light from the video camera you see a little more." - Pam Beineke, recalling her escape from a bar window.
12.) "I didn't know where to go. Someone yelled, 'No Tom--this way!' " - Survivor Tom Greenan, still wondering who it was who suggested he head toward the bar door.
13.) "It was so dark [inside] I thought for a moment that the fire was out." - Survivor John "Shawn" McNulty, who finally got out a bar window.
14.) "If I didn't have my children, I don't know if I would have stuck around." - Survivor Gina Russo.
15.) "I pretty much screamed through the whole thing. I was telling myself to throw in the towel." - Joe Kinan.
16.) "I have a live one over here!" - what Joe Kinan heard a fireman say when he was found.
17.) "I have what I call 'daymares.' I will see something just burst into flames." - Joe Kinan. For years, Kinan was haunted by imaginary flames when he was doing something as simple as walking down the street.
18.) "It's almost impossible to describe the feeling, to be out on a normal night, doing everyday activities, when your whole life is ahead of you. And then in a matter of 2 minutes your entire life has changed, and the people who are most important to you are gone. Suddenly, you cannot see your future anymore." - Survivor Melanie Fontaine, who, after her own harrowing escape from the club, found out she'd lost her brother (Mark Fontaine), her fiancee (Jon Longiaru), and her best-friend (Leigh Ann Moreau).
19.) "I tried like so many other people that night to do all I could. But the fire moved so fast, I was scared, and I wish I did a better job." - Jeff Derderian, in an unusually candid moment.
20.) "When I saw all the people here, the huge crowd, I heard Nicky whispering to me, 'We should charge a cover.' " - Dave Kane's comment at the memorial service for his son, Nick O'Neill.
21.) "I realized once I did start to speak about [the fire], it was an incredible release for me--rather than something that would bring me down more." - Survivor Melanie Fontaine.
22.) "People are sure to ask, 'Where's your God?' That's a fair question. Quite frankly, I don't have an answer for it." - Rev. Bernard Lavin, speaking at St. Jude's Church in Lincoln, RI.
23.) "I found it difficult to view the video." - Dr. Richard A. Gould, leader of Brown University's Forensic Archaeology team.
24.) "At work, they put a piece of burned foam over my desk. I work with a tough crowd. They were trying to be funny. It's not anything to joke about." - Survivor Pete Christensen.
25.) "That flipped me out bad. It was dark. In the fire, everything was black. I freaked right out. I started shaking. I needed to go." - John Van Deusen, one of the last to be pulled out of the front pile, was at a WalMart 10 months later when the lights went out.
26.) "I still don't and won't go to nightclubs. I just can't do it." - Survivor Bob Rager, GW's soundman, who spent 2 months in a Boston hospital after being burned over a third of his body.
27.) "To tell you the truth, I'm not a Great White fan anymore." - John Mellini, bartender Julie Mellini's now ex-husband and the singer for three different tribute bands that had played The Station.
28.) "I'm not really sure why I did that." - Survivor James Dufresne, who, after being released from a month's stay at RI Hospital, "busted up" and threw away all his Great White CD's.
29.) "Unfortunately, his girlfriend's pretty much pregnant, too!" - Jack Russell, on CNN the morning after, talking about his missing guitarist Ty Longley.
Death Hag
I watched this long interview with Scott/Scotty Dunbar- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6iX1J6OP6o
At 15:11 and 15:23, two brief moments of the Butler tape are shown in slo-mo. It is implied that they show Scotty's actual escape through a bar window. Then he is seen walking close to the camera in the extreme foreground at 15:33.
The description says the video was made by a 2003 film class. Unless their class lasted three years, I don't think that's accurate because the update at the end sounds like 2006.
Death Hag
Starting at 2:47 on the following video I'm posting below, there was a Brazilian children's show episode being filmed. There apparently was a short circuit in the enclosure of the show's host that she walks into at the end of each episode. In this clip, she actually was just about to walk into this enclosure when the unthinkable happens.
Apparently, there also was a Ferris wheel on the set - which the whole studio was designed like an amusement park (we can pretty much assume how many flammable decorative products were on this set.)
On the very left, after the conflagration begins - you will see people returning to the burning building necause there are a few LITTLE CHILDREN trapped on this Ferris wheel unable to escape and they went back and rescued them. No one was killed, thank goodness, but over 40 people injured including a little girl burned over 40% of her body - she was rescued by the show host's personal bodyguard who suffered severe lung damage.
This event took place about 2 years and one month prior to the Station.
I only posted it here because I discovered it by accident on Saturday night because I fell asleep and had YouTube just playing video after video and could only imagine it's what it looked like inside the Station on that sad night. 😢😢
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=APqj57C9q_c
Administrator
Hey folks can you please start making new threads for the non station related items..
Administrator
Death Hag
I've been quiet lately, things have been busy and I just moved back to my home state of Texas!
As part of the moving process I converted a lot of my old VHS tapes to DVD. I used to record everything newsworthy. I had thought I had recorded some news coverage of the Station Fire the day after in 2003, and sure enough I found some.
The link is here, I posted the coverage to YouTube. It's less than 10 minutes and is much less comprehensive than the excellent link of WJAR's coverage bustakita shared on the 20th anniversary. But it's a little more that perhaps hasn't been seen, and it includes some of the Butler video and an audio interview with him. Due to the degradation over the years, the Butler video's quality is not much better than we've already seen. One thing I noted is that it was the top news story on my local news in Houston at the time, halfway across the country.
Death Hag
Death Hag
My apologies for posting the video that I did, I felt it was somewhat related to the sad event that happened at the Station due to the footage it included due to how quickly it all unfolded and what it could have possibly looked like inside there at the time.
If I did something wrong, I apologize wholeheartedly. 😔
Death Hag
Dionyzus - nice hearing from you. Good luck with the move, and thanks for the new/old video.
bustakita - loved the Station-like Brazilian TV video.
--RESCUER'S CLOTHING--
1.) West Warwick P.O. Anthony Bettencourt, who rescued patrons at the front doors and bar windows.
"My uniform--shirt, pants, and gloves were scorched and stained with blood from several victims."
2.) W.W.P.O. Mark Knott, who worked at the atrium windows and then the front doors.
"My Gore-Tex jacket, boots, uniform shirt, and leather gloves were burnt and soiled with blood. My duty pants were torn."
3.) Survivor Shamus Horan, who rescued 7-9 individuals from the bar windows.
"My clothes were soaked with blood and vomit."
4.) Survivor Steve Burgess, who worked the bar windows and later assisted the W.W. firefighters in laying out their hoses.
"I had blood on my pants from a cut I took to my hand. I believe it was from the glass...and that [blood] was all over my pants. I had blood on my shirt [and] the front left-half of my sweater. The front and back I had some handprints full of blood, from people coming out...grabbing my shoulder, I imagine--and that I really didn't notice until I got home." (Where he also noticed that his eyebrows had been singed off.)
5.) Survivor Rick Sanetti, who worked the bar windows. (Described by Sean O'Donnell, fellow-rescuer and survivor.)
"Rick's got burns up his arms from trying to put out [the flames] on a girl. We took off his [gray-and-white Nautica jersey] to put over her [head] to get the flames out, and his stomach [also] got burned."
6.) Survivor Lee Karvonen, who worked the front doors and bar windows.
Six days after the fire, Karvonen turned in his clothing from that night to the police. The clothes had "burnt plastic-type material" over them.
Administrator
No Worries, we just want to keep the board organized, and if it's not about the Station and it's a great topic to talk about, then do a search and see if it has already been posted, if not then by all means make a new thread for it, and hopefully it will get as much attention as this one does...Fires like this one and the Cocoanut Grove, Beverly Hill Supper Club, and the Winecoff Hotel FIre, and the Hartford Circus Fire, and the Irioquois Theatre Fire, and Lady of Angels all send me down a rabbit hole.
Death Hag
Karla Bagtaz
Laura Gillett
Jason Morton
Linda Suffoletto
Mel Gerfin
Judy Manzo
Death Hag
Survivor Todd King has died.
Gina Russo announced it during the memorial service at 49:45.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SmkvcPkOS8
Death Hag
Death Hag
Fellow Death Hag "Tommy Servo" from post 2038 has done it again!
He's isolated audio from the Pickett tape snippet in several ways:
Link requires youtube login of 18+ in age:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viDaZjG91LE
Death Hag
Hi All--
RodentLady - I accidentally deleted my response to you and your Todd King announcement. Opps...so let me try again...
I was actually in West Warwick for that whole Memorial Anniversary weekend, and it was quite something. I got to meet Joe Kinan's wife and daughter. And I was lucky enough to meet these five survivors for the first time: Mike Kaz, the Delsesto twins, David Steets, and Vikki Potvin-Eagen. Vikki had never before seen a shot of herself leaving the burning club; she wanted to see it, though, and I obliged. Later I smoked some weed with Donovan Williams. Fun for me. Pain relief for Donovan.
When I arrived at the Memorial on Sunday for the service, Vikki told me that she'd woken up to the news that Todd King had died in Myrtle Beach, S.C., while attending a motorcycle rally. (He was living in Winter Haven, Florida.)
He had been crucial in helping raise money for the Station Fire Family Fund, in the fire's aftermath. He was also the manager for the benefit concert in Providence that featured artists like Dee Snider, Gretchen Wilson, etc. Some survivors were openly wondering if Todd's steroid use during a body-building phase might have been a contributing factor in his demise--which, unofficially, appeared to be from a heart attack in the middle of the night.
RodentLady - great Servo find. Was he ever planning on sharing it here on the thread? Yeah, it is hard to listen to. Wonder if Servo has ever seen the movie, "The Conversation." (great film with lots of sound technology)
Cristina and Pickett both headed for the atrium about the same time. Cristina saw some light and heard an encouraging voice from the outside. And he must have reached the only atrium windows broken--3 or 4 of the very east-most windows. Pickett, on the other hand, must not have been as lucky. He may have run into the pool table barrier to the west, or else over-shot the broken windows and gone too far east and into the windowless pocket of the atrium with the air hockey table and vending machine--where 19 bodies were later found. This deathtrap would have been the area right behind Ozzy's face.
**Bonus photo--look what I found:
Renowned Death Hag
Renowned Death Hag
According to some info I found online, Scott V. lived in Florida for awhile. He has since returned to his home turf. Why was he never charged with keeping people from exiting a burning building? I have watched numerous Station nightclub related videos on YouTube. The responses are the same in the fact that viewers wonder why this twit on a power trip wasn't prosecuted for helping to contribute to the injuries or deaths of club patrons.
"What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett
Death Hag
An upside-down table, to the right of Biechele. This may be the same table that was such a big hindrance to people exiting the front corridor. Brian Butler used his one free hand to fling it over the railing, and--according to Scott Vieira--it struck Vieira in the leg.
Here's a micro-second glimpse of Patty Sanetti from a Butler frame. She's probably getting up to leave and go home.
As Rick Sanetti explained: "My wife had left at 5 minutes to 11:00 to kick off a [computer] program for a satellite location at my home [in Coventry] for Fidelity Investments, and then [was] to return while the systems run overnight."
She returned to find the club on fire and her niece missing.
I don't believe that this survivor, Marlene Raphael of East Freetown, Massachusetts, has ever been ID-ed here before. She came to the show with Dale Latulippe (D) and Carolyn Moore, and spent her time talking on the westside of the horseshoe (main) bar. She and Moore got out the bar door exit. She said she had yelled to Dale, who was walking toward the office with some car-dealer guy, and this very well may have been Chris Prouty (D).
Here's one for you, RodentLady. I'll never forget you musing over the what-ifs if THIS had been the cause of the Station Fire. It's Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. shooting a 15 x15 silver gerb out of his customized crotch-holder. I don't know where this was taken, but the same scene took place at The Station before the Derderians had put up all their foam. Dan Biechele was their road manager then, and he ignited this gerb and the others on the night W.A.S.P. performed.
Great book by Richard A. Gould, anthropologist, archaeologist, and Brown University professor who died of cancer in March 2020. He led the recoveries at the Station Nightclub Fire scene.
Death Hag
@Alanwench- I've heard theories about SV not being charged, such as:
He was not an employee, he was following orders very literally, he didn't know how bad the situation was, evidence of what he did is lacking, Gina Russo could not identify him when shown a photo, the Cormier family identified John Arpin as the man who blocked them... and mostly that the prosecution simply wasn't interested in him.
@billoween: Oh, that picture is vile and absurd! Yuck. What adult would celebrity-worship that thing? I can see teens finding it cool.
Yipes, I'm glad I scraped off pop culture a dozen years ago. Many of those 'pretty boys' and 'girly men' in bands that I used to like have simply grown into old women. Oops. It's lame that I ever fell for the Hollywood facade.
Death Hag
As we know, the Station Fire tragedy was chock-full of various ironies. Well, I may have a new one to put on the list, and it's a doozy.
In Cranston, 717 pieces of evidence from the fire were warehoused in what had been a garage for the Soprano Construction Company. It was a 4,000 square-foot facility at 225 Macklin Street, about 8 miles from the Station site. Lawyers were allowed access, as needed, to complete their work.
The irony: A new sprinkler system was installed in the warehouse to protect the evidence from fire.
--In mid-September of 2010, everything was crushed--to thwart any souvenir hunters--and sent to landfill.
--Families of the deceased and some survivors could view a catalog of the items in case they wanted to claim something. There were very few requests.
Administrator
Nice find Bill.
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