Station Nightclub Fire

Hey guys.
Today I had my very first Fire Safety Hazards Recognition class at OSU, and the prof showed us this video of the Station Nightclub Fire, an event in West Warwick, RI, which resulted in about 100 casualties and 200 injuries. Below is a video and my thoughts on this tragedy.
Warning: The content in the video is incredibly graphic. I will understand if a moderator chooses to have it removed. Please be aware that this is for educational purposes only. Viewer discretion is advised.

So at the beginning of the event, you can see pyrotechnics ignite the stage. The club was insulated with a flammable polyurethane foam, which only worsened the situation as time went on. The building was not sprinklered, so the fire quickly got out of hand. The fire alarm activates about thirty seconds into the event (twenty-five seconds too late). Since the building was densely crowded, and because human habits dictate we exit the way we entered, the front exit was too crowded to evacuate everyone safely. You can see as the video goes on that people began to break windows in an attempt to evacuate. According to a NIST report written after the event,

At its peak, temperatures climbed to about 1000 degrees Celsius (1832 degrees Fahrenheit) and black smoke filled the club; a veritable death trap. Below are two re-creations. One simulates the actual fire and smoke spread in a non-sprinklered building, and another demonstrates what could have happened had the building been properly sprinklered.

If you want to read the full report, I’ll provide a link to it.
In conclusion, this is the reason why building sprinkler codes are so heavily enforced, or ought to be heavily enforced.
I apologize if this video shocked some of you, but I feel like a community like this needs to know why these systems are so important, why they absolutely need to work if and when the time comes.
Thank you for understanding.

1 Like

Some other things I know about The Station Nightclub Fire:

[list]

  • [*] Because of this, every fire alarm system I have seen in Rhode Island is addressable and has fire sprinklers. I believe it may actually be in the code to have both of these things in every installation.
  • [*] The camera operator worked for our local FOX affiliate WPRI-TV and was coincidentally doing a report on lack of emergency exits and high occupancy (seen in [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd1F2VSvMNk]this[/url] video; notice the shot of the exit sign at 4:11). He was also sued for slowing down the evacuation effort (seen around 1:05 in the main video you posted).
  • [*] One of my teachers was an audio technician at the concert, and obviously lived to tell the tale (although most of his friends in attendance died).
  • [*] The last time I checked, the property where The Station was located is still vacant, and a makeshift memorial exists.
  • [/list]

    In conclusion, this was a terrible turn of events caused by pure stupidity. However, Rhode Island and the rest of the nation should not have waited for something like this to occur before strengthening sprinkler laws. We know a fire like this is going to happen again somewhere in the future, so we should be prepared with sprinklers to make it less fatal.

    I’m pretty sure I know exactly which video you’re referring to. I had to watch several times while studying for my fire protection degree about 5 years ago. No matter how many times we watched it, its something you never get desensitized to. Incredibly heartbreaking to watch.

    As clearly as it demonstrates the importance of sprinkler systems, and as much as it should have caused people to wake-up, the public still needs convincing. It drives me crazy how many people out there think sprinklers are a waste of money. I remember speaking with a building owner about sprinklers and the lack there-of once (it just sort of came up inadvertently through conversation) and her ignorance floored me. She was completely brain-washed into thinking sprinklers were an insurance scam, etc. Honestly, if watching a scene like that captured at the Station Nightclub doesn’t enlighten you to the importance of improved fire safety, I don’t know what will.

    Money should not be a concern when it comes to fire safety. If your fire protection systems do their job, they pay for themselves. I honestly think this video and others like it should be required viewing for building owners looking for fire protection solutions, especially if they feel the way that building owner did about sprinkler systems,

    Everythings driven by tragic accidents.

    Ever wonder why that bad smell is added to gas? 295 kids died in at a school in Texas.

    Ever wonder why we have mandated fire drills? 95 elementary age students died in Chicago.

    I’m sure you’ll be studying the above one at some point Robert. the amount of code violations (even in the 50’s) is stunning. Open stairwells, open attics, no fire doors, etc.

    Unfortunately, fire code are reactive. And they always will be. It is very difficult for anyone in the industry to push for new standards without justifying the changes. One of the more emotional issues seems to be the requirement for residential sprinklers. There is an obvious life safety advantage to residential sprinklers - but when you tell someone they have to pay an additional $2000 on the construction of their home on something they will probably never use, they fight it. They would rather spend that $2000 on granite conutertops or the big soaking tub!

    Anyway, it’s easy to list the tragedies that end up changing the codes. But it’s also good to list the success stories.

    This picture for me is very powerful…

    [attachment=0]large_Construction Fire_PICK.JPG[/attachment]
    The people you see in this picture lived in this apartment building - the building caught on fire and they lost everything. This fire was a result of exposure of a fire in a adjacent building under construction. The fire reached the attic and because the attic was wood framed without sprinkler protection, the entire occupied apartment building was destroyed. What makes this a “success” is that everyone who was inside this building when it caught on fire survived. The sprinkler system that was designed to hold back the fire to get the people out did it’s job. The fire alarm system that was designed to notify the building occupants of a fire in the building did it’s job. There was zero loss of life - zero injuries. Yes, these people lost everything. But things can be replaced. There were questions of why wasn’t the attic protected by sprinklers and how did it spread so quickly - but attic sprinklers weren’t required. And what is ironic, when they rebuilt this building, they still did not install attic sprinklers. What makes this picture powerful for me personally is that this is a building that I inspected & serviced the fire alarm and sprinkler system. I can’t help how the building was constructed, but I know that the systems I had my hands on did their job to get these people out safely.

    That’s crazy to think it didn’t have attic protection. I guess codes must be different in whatever state that’s in. All new buildings with wood frame construction here get attic protection at that level, and “above and below” protection in the ceilings. When you have a combustible space like that, it makes absolutely no sense why you would protect below it, but not above or in it.

    Yep, The Station Nightclub Fire, we had to watch that video last year for Introductory of Fire Safety in 9th Grade.

    Definitely hard to watch. FA wise it’s commonly believed the alarm you hear/see is a vertical AS. I think someone who is/was on here was there once and saw it. You can even hear the alarm “die” in the video, quite sad. BUT I have my priorities! That alarm can be replaced, those 100 people cannot.

    The alarm didn’t die. The fire ate away at the walls, destroying the electrical and fire alarm wiring. That’s why you can hear it shut off and come on for a second; the wires were coming apart, and eventually disconnected completely.

    I did the fire alarm in a wood frame 4 story hotel recently where sprinklers weren’t required in the attic because they put in over a dozen draft stops limiting spaces to under 3,000 S.F. Apparently a limited concealed space in an attic doesn’t require coverage per the NFPA 13, but I’m no expert on that code. Something for you to look around for if you get bored I guess.

    I thought the IBC requires the under 3,000 S.F. space division via firestops on all combustible construction though.

    I’d have to dig a little deeper, but one thing I do know is, an important factor is what type of structural elements it has. If the wood construction is open-web truss for example, it needs to be sprinklered, I always thought the draft stop rule was 1,000 sq. ft. but I don’t think it has any effect on the need for concealed space sprinklers in the case of this type of construction. On the other hand, if the structural elements are solid wood I-beams and the gypsum board is tight to the beams, I believe you are not required to have sprinklers in this space.

    The Iroquois Theatre fire is also worth reading about I think. It was the deadliest single-building fire in the United States to date. Iroquois Theatre fire - Wikipedia

    I don’t believe fire sprinklers were around back then, were they?

    Chicago has a bad past with fire it seems.

    They were around loooong before then, but they weren’t installed in public places. normally factories and the like to protect property though, not life.

    the NFPA was founded in the very late 1800’s and took awhile to develop codes worthwhile and really gain traction. before that, there were no real codes anywhere.

    Sprinklers have been around for 150 years. The first successful one was patented in 1878. However, like Chris said, they weren’t anywhere near as common as they are today. They protected industrial properties and NFPA was actually created in 1896 by some of the top men of the budding sprinkler industry in order to promote their use. For a long time, sprinklers weren’t even considered as a life safety item. In fact, it proved to be a monumental task just to convince people to install them for property.

    Today is the 13th anniversary of The Station Nightclub Fire so I figured I would post this so everybody can take a moment to think about all the poor souls who died in that horrific fire.