Fire at Great White concert; 100 dead.

39 people die in fire at Great White concert.

39 people died last night when a pyrotechnics display went awry at a Great White concert in West Warwick, RI, last night. Here is a link to the story:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/875480.asp?0cv=CA00

 

As an update, The Today Show is reporting that 39 people are confirmed dead. It is believed that there are bodies that have not yet been recovered in the rubble.

 

Just heard it on the news. Tragic. There is some speculation that the bands pyrotechnics may have started, or at least fueled the fire. 160 people treated for burns.

 

I know some of the air personalities that were in that fire. "Dr. Metal" WHJY. A really nice guy. I haven't talked to him in 12 years or so, but he's reported missing...

 

Very sad indeed. The link says that Ty Longley was not seen leaving the building. Wonder if he's been located yet.

I was watching the British Music Awards last night and one of the acts on stage was using pyrotechnics and the flames were shooting very high on the stage from several pods.

 

A couple more links

CNN

Yahoo News

CBC

BBC

 

Looks like the count is up to 54. Local news website just updated it from 39.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-199538420030221-020210.html

I think a lot of clubs are seriously going to start looking at how they run their facilities after this past week. After reading the descriptions, it sounds like they had some of that acoustical foam behind the stage...depending on what type it was, it could have been highly flammable. And you'd think a fire inspector would think realize that it is an accident waiting to happen.

The thing in Chicago is way different--we've had problems with overzealous security guards here in Michigan.

 

Ty Longley still listed as missing.

 

Paula Zahn interviewed Jack Russell a short time ago on CNN, live. He looked very shaken. He said he hoped that Ty was just in a hospital some where and unable to get to a phone. It's not looking good.

 

Well, the guys in Great White swear they had permission to use the fireworks....but what an unbelievable tragedy, and in Warwick, R.I. of all places! We once lived in Middletown for a few years, used to go through Warwick all the time.

Jack Russell sure looks shaken up this morning, talking to the media...like the rest of us, must find it all like some kind of nightmare...50 dead and counting....and, like the disastrous Who concert in Cincinnati, panic played a part in the death toll, no doubt about it. And the night shots suggest the venue burned down like a tinderbox....just incredible.

ED

 

Fireworks indoors? Not the best idea I've ever heard of.

mud-

 

Fireworks in a large arena or stadium seems somewhat reasonable.

A small club? Insanity.

 

MSC, agreed. I've got a feeling after the lawsuits are settled you won't be seeing fireworks indoors at all.

mud-

 

The press can't make up its collective mind whether to call what was used by the band 'fireworks' or 'pyrotechnics,' though let's face it, it's all the same thing that has to be carefully handled. As the death toll rises--as of now up to 54--both the band and the venue are going to fall under deeper scrutiny, and the inevitable lawsuits will boggle the mind. It's uncertain whether or not The Station has the proper permits for such a display. And there are still dozens missing. This must now rank as the worst disaster of its kind in rock history.

ED

 

A couple of things bothering me about this:

1. The speed at which it burned. Apparently foam behind the stage caught on fire quickly. With all those little cells of air, it's quick to ignite. (And one wonders why it wasn't fire-retardent foam, if it's the acoustical foam I'm guessing may have been up there.) The foam may have caused it to start quickly, but what caused it to *spread* so quickly? It sounds as though that entire building had never seen a fire retardent material in its lifetime.

2. Why no sprinklers in that building? Their local requirements said the capacity was small enough that they didn't need sprinklers. C'mon, it's a public building--I think *any* building or safety codes should require sprinklers in all public buildings regardless of size. Who cares about cost? What (actually *who*) was lost here can NOT be replaced.

Everything's going to be under the microscope once this is done and over with. Including the building inspector, the club's manager (if he is found), even future contracts for other bands in other clubs around the world.

It's very sad to hear about this happening...but it's also maddening that just the smallest amount of common sense would have prevented this from happening.

 

This just continues to get worse and worse. The count is up to 60 people now.

Any of us who've spent a considerable amount of time in night clubs watching our favorite bands can't help but feel a bit shaken by all of this, I know I am.

 

I knew of two and just found out a third friend was there. I have been on the phone and email all morning! One person I am friendly with made it out unscathed and is actually on TV everytime they show people leaving the club. The second, who is a very close friend, was seen by the first friend OUTSIDE (which relieved me), but it took me a while to get that info from various friends. After a few emails, I later found out he is in the hospital with second degree burns. I just found a third friend was with the second and we don't know what his whereabouts are right now.

My close friend LOVED to be up front at any show he went to, so I could only fear the worst when I was woken up this morning by my friend Dave that by chance happened to talk to him yesterday about the show and they barely know each other. There was an exit right next to the stage, but fire officials said that people are so conditioned into leaving through a single exit, that they might not even think about leaving through a different door. I was hoping that he made it out that way.

I lived in the Boston area until 3 years ago and many friends and I would travel to RI to see some of these 80s metal bands that no clubs in the Boston area would book. Not suprisingly, this place was a bit of a dive.

 

Metalbob, I hope all of your friends are safe. Please let us know when you hear anything.

 

Me too. I've been in many many small hall venues for concerts that were sold out, or in one or two cases, oversold. As I've gotten older, I tend to stay at the back of these venues for the shows. But it wasn't always that way. I used to be up at the front of concerts dancing away in the "slam pit" as we used to call it in the late '70s.

The Cure - summer of 1981 in Winnipeg, in the basement of the St. Charles Hotel just north of downtown was way oversold. The place held about 200 comfortably and there were probably close to 300 people in there.

I was sitting to the left of the band for the concert with their manager. So I watched the whole show from stage left, a few feet from Robert Smith. That area was the furthest away from the only stair case leading up the the main floor and exit of the bar. I get the shivers just thinking about what could have happened if there had been any sort of emergency during that show.

 

What's worse is that I was at the Guns N Roses mini-riot in Philly. I think I need to stop going out of the house....

 

Sometimes concerts can be dangerous............Sad.......


-Wes

 

I recall a 1995 Smithereens show in Scranton, PA, where my friends and I were pretty much pinned at the front of the stage, to the point where we all had bruises on our legs by the end of the night. Up until now, it's been kind of a jovial war story, but I've certainly had that night on my mind today. At the time, I would have had no idea where the exits to the club were, other than the front door I came in. This appears to have been a major problem in Warwick last night, everyone seemingly tried to get out of the club through the front door of the place, even though there were several other exits throughout the building.

I went to the same club a couple of years later to see Cheap Trick, another packed house, this time I watched from the back.

A sad reminder to familiarize yourself with the building and its exits when attending any event. You just never know.

The toll is up to 65 now, with 160 people reported injured. That's a staggering number, when you consider that the club wasn't at it's 300 people max capacity. That means over half of the people in that club were hurt in some way in this incident. Absolutely incredible.

 

UPDATE: I just called my friend's hospital room and spoke to his mom. I guess he's burned a bit and really wasn't up for speaking on the phone. I wasn't able to determine how bad, but from an email from a friend, I guess he has burns on his face and back. His mom was obviously upset. I guess his friend Matt is still missing. I knew Matt, but we weren't best buds. Great guy and big music fan.

The owner of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ called into CNN and said that Great White just played there and used pyro WITHOUT permission from the club. This is going to get real interesting....

 

Along those same lines:

The following statement was released Friday by Kathleen M. Hagerty, Esq., on behalf of the owners of The Station Concert Club.

"Last night's fire and loss of life at The Station is an absolute tragedy which cannot be described by words. The owners of the club, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, are devastated and in shock over these events, which have claimed the lives of so many, including their friends. Their prayers and deep felt sympathy go out to those who lost their lives, their families and to those who were injured.

"Jeffrey Derderian was in the club at the time the fire broke out, and assisted in helping to evacuate the building during the fast-moving fire. Mr. Derderian was interviewed by state and local authorities last night on the scene and provided all information as requested. Michael and Jeffrey Derderian have owned The Station since March 2000.

"At no time, did either owner have prior knowledge that pyrotechnics were going to be used by the band Great White. No permission was ever requested by the band or its agents to use pyrotechnics at The Station, and no permission was ever given."

Link: http://www.turnto10.com/news/1996036/detail.html