Rhode Island: The Station nightclub fire

The Station nightclub fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, at The Station, a nightclub and hard rock music venue located at 211 Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230. During a concert by the rock band Jack Russell's Great White, an offshoot of the original Great White band, a pyrotechnic display ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. Within six minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames. The fire remains the deadliest firework accident in U.S. history and the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It was also the second-deadliest nightclub fire in New England, behind the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire.

After the fire, multiple civil and criminal cases were filed. Daniel Biechele, the tour manager for Great White who had ignited the pyrotechnics, pled guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2006 and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison with four to serve. Biechele was released from prison in 2008 after some families of the victims expressed support for his parole. Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the owners of the Station, pleaded no contest and avoided a trial: Michael received the same sentence as Biechele and was released from prison in 2009, while Jeffrey received a sentence of 500 hours of community service. Legal action against several parties, including Great White, was resolved with monetary settlements by 2008.

Station Fire Memorial Park, a permanent memorial to the fire victims, was opened in May 2017 at the site where the Station once stood.

When it was announced that the hard rock act Great White would be headlining an evening of 1980s retro rock music at The Station, fans turned out in force. The warm-up acts went down well, and, by the time Great White took the stage, shortly after 11:00 p.m., the crowd’s spirits were high. The band started with their traditional opening song “Desert Moon,” accompanied by a pyrotechnic display laid on by the group’s manager, Daniel Biechele.

The band had scarcely got going when the fireworks sent a spray of sparks up into the foam above the stage that was being used as soundproofing. The foam quickly ignited, surrounding the band with flames. Most of the audience thought this was part of the act and carried on enjoying the show. The fire quickly spread across the ceiling and set a foam-clad wall ablaze, sending billows of black smoke across the venue. At that point the band quickly headed for an exit behind the stage. Soon the only sound anyone could hear was the club’s fire alarm system.

Although The Station had four functioning exits, in their haste to get out most of the audience chose to leave through the narrow hallway through which they had arrived. The passage soon filled up and became impassable, leading those in the club to push even harder as the fire spread, engulfing the entire nightclub in a little more than five minutes. One hundred people lost their lives, either through being trampled or as a result of smoke inhalation and severe burns. Only around one quarter of the approximately 460 people present escaped unharmed.

The fire had a huge impact on the local community, with scores of children losing their parents. Great White’s lead guitarist, Ty Longley, was among the dead. Lawsuits totaling $180 million were initiated. Among other determinations were that several safety inspections before the disaster had been lax, with the inspectors failing to note the dangers posed by the highly flammable insulation foam. The Station had no sprinkler system, a violation that the inspectors similarly overlooked. Criminal charges were also filed, with Biechele eventually pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and being sentenced to four years imprisonment; he served two years before being paroled. The club’s owners, Jeffrey Derderian and Michael Derderian, were also tried; the former received a suspended sentence, while the latter received a four-year prison sentence as well, of which he served two years and nine months.

As of 2024, the Station fire ranks as the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. A memorial park now stands on the site. Reunited after a long hiatus, Great White continues to perform.