How long did it take to completely extinguish the Station Nightclub fire?
If you don't know the story yet, The band Great White was going to perform at the Station Nightclub. They wanted their entrance to be amazing, so they decided to use pyrotechnics/fireworks in the nightclub that, I forgot to mention, had over 400 people in it. This was a terrible idea, seeing as that the nightclub was really small, and a fire could break out. And it did. You could even hear Jack Russell say "Wow. That's not good." Initially, the audience thought that it was part of the act and that it was controlled, but it wasn't. And so there were 400+ people inside a small nightclub that was on fire. There is a video uploaded to YouTube of someone who captured the whole thing on camera (I don't know if it's still up on YouTube, but if it is, then go watch it). 100 people died, and almost 200 were injured. Great White's guitarist, Ty Longley, was killed by the fire. The manager of the band and the owners of the nightclub were both sent to court (and then later, jail), the manager because it was his idea to use pyrotechnics in a small building, and the owners because they didn't have sprinkler systems. If you haven't covered this, you should put it in your "3 videos with DISTURBING backstories" series.
The Station nightclub fire was the fourth-deadliest at a nightclub in U.S. history. It occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230. The fire was caused by pyrotechnics set off by the tour manager of the evening's headlining band, Great White, which ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. The blaze reached flashover within one minute, causing all combustible materials to burn. Intense black smoke engulfed the club in two minutes. Video footage of the fire shows its ignition, rapid growth, the billowing smoke that quickly made escape impossible, and blocked egress that further hindered evacuation.
The Station Night club, before the accident.
The toxic smoke, heat, and the resulting human rush toward the main exit killed 100; 230 were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured.
Since the universe is not without it’s irony, a cameraman was at the venue this particular night to film a piece on fire safety. He turns his camera on, as the band Great White takes the stage. The pyrotechnics go off instantly and give of a shower of sparks. The cameraman as soon as he sees flames coming from the back wall he starts moving to the exit. He was right at the stage, as he is moving out after 30 seconds the band stops playing stating “well, this ain’t good” and stops playing. As the cameraman moves through the crowd none seems to react at first. The fire alarm that goes off at 30 seconds interval makes people start working their way to the exit.
The acoustic foam was installed in two layers, with highly flammable urethane foam above polyethylene foam, the latter being difficult to ignite but releasing much more heat once ignited by the less dense urethane. Burning polyurethane foam instantly develops opaque, dark smoke along with deadly carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide gas. Inhaling this smoke only 2–3 times would cause rapid loss of consciousness and, eventually, death by internal suffocation.
Dense smoke, black, is starting to billow from the ceiling and people are getting more anxious. The cameraman pushes himself out of the entrance, that almost feel like a cork as they move out he plunges to freedom. He starts to walk around the corner of the house to one of the fireexists on the side of the building, but
... keep reading on reddit ➡Ten years ago I started asking questions about the worst thing to happen where I grew up: The Station nightclub fire that killed 100 when the rock band Great White ignited fireworks for its show in Rhode Island. There were never any trials, so there were unanswered questions and many feel justice was never served.
This brief video explains what happened: https://youtu.be/-VupYsE09TA
I quickly discovered that people’s concerns about the tragedy were warranted. Only the government’s version of events had been presented, and the state's evidence had never been vetted in court. I was able to persuade key figures involved in the tragedy to share their versions of events for the first time. I examined once-secret grand jury testimony and other documents never made public until today. As a result, a more complete telling of the story has emerged – it involves more than the government’s case where just a few people were made to be scapegoats.
Instead, the disaster turns out to be a troubling tale that’s eerily prescient of our current times: institutions we believe will be there to keep us safe or help us during a disaster are failing.
For an excerpt, an author interview and more information, go to: www.scottjameswriter.com
Proof: https://i.redd.it/k1i609269ww51.jpg
Hey everyone, I currently work in law enforcement, but I'm also currently a firefighter technology student and my major focus right now is code enforcement, inspection and fire prevention. We just did a critical thinking exercise about this particular fire. My teacher asked the question about what we thought contributed to the overall loss of life in this fire and hinted that it was 3 major reasons. My paper included a discussion about the building construction/materials, the lack of sufficient routes of egress and the fact that there was no automatic sprinkler system. It has been turned in at this point. Just wondering if anyone has any other thoughts about it.
I need help, like psychologically. I heard about the fire the morning after it happened 17 years ago and THANK GOD at the time I wasn’t aware there was video of it because I was only 12. Fast forward 15 or so years and I sort of fell down a YouTube rabbit hole and wound up watching the footage, uncut, from start to finish. That was two years ago and for roughly two months afterwards I would think about it every day. It was imbedded into my brain.
Fortunately I no longer think about it constantly but I am still extremely bothered by it and need to talk about it but don’t want to tell anybody lest they get curious and watch it as well. That’s why I opted not to post in a subreddit for psychology or therapy because I was afraid people might decide to watch it. I thought it would be safe to post here because I assumed, being firefighters, you folks would’ve all been aware of the footage. Unfortunately I was wrong and many of you have never heard of it.
I need someone to talk to but like I said I don’t want to accidentally be the cause of anybody else seeing the video because it’s so horrific.
Can anybody help me with this? I tend to imagine the horror of either being inside there with a loved one and getting separated from them or knowing that a loved one was at the show and trying to call their cell phone and it just going to voicemail. I get sick to my stomach imagining if my mother or father was in that pileup in the doorway and not being able to help them. I’m getting nauseous just writing this.
Sorry for posting this...I feel more comfortable posting it here though because I feel like if any of your curiosities get piqued and you watch the video (but please don’t) you’ll be able to handle it better than others because you’ve probably seen similar stuff...
Thank you for being patient with me.
For those who are unaware, the band Great White played a show in Rhode Island at The Station nightclub in 2003. During their performance, they used pyrotechnics which immediately ignited plastic foam the club had used in its walls for sound insulation. This caused a fire to quickly spread throughout. The crowd panicked and created a log-jam of bodies at all exits and windows. Many people were trapped and unable to make their escape.
If you want to understand just how quickly the fire spread throughout the nightclub, I have included a video link here
WARNING: Very graphic video.
Absolutely horrifying YouTube link
For those who are unaware, the band Great White played a show in Rhode Island at The Station nightclub in 2003. During their performance, they used pyrotechnics which immediately ignited plastic foam the club had used in its walls for sound insulation. This caused a fire to quickly spread throughout. The crowd panicked and created a log-jam of bodies at all exits and windows. Many people were trapped and unable to make their escape.
If you want to understand just how quickly the fire spread throughout the nightclub, I have included a video link here
WARNING: Very graphic video.
