The Station fire will be on CBS "48Hours"

[gafftaper]

Saturday night 10/23 CBS will be airing an episode of 48 Hours focused on the tragic fire at "The Station". They are teasing that since it resulted in a plea deal we never had a trial and never heard the full story. They have the owners of the club talking about it on camera for the first time.

If the words "The Station" don't immediately set off massive warning bells of disaster and tragedy deep in your soul, you need to watch. I'm pulling out my teacher card and assigning watching this as homework.

For those of us who have been around a while it may provide new information.

 

[chawalang]

Years ago when I took OSHA 10 training we watched footage that was taken from a camera filming the show for the band.

It was absolutely terrifying to watch how fast the fire started and how none of the patrons realized they needed to get out before it was to late. The bottle neck at the door was the scariest part.

Our trainer told us the lawyer representing the family was top notch. Even got money out of the beer company that had their banner on the front of the venue.

This case should eventually become a text book example of risk assessment and creating an action plan for evacuating a venue in case of an emergency.

 

[JohnD]

Some may find this helpful when watching this. It is also from Killer Show by John Barylick.

 

[gafftaper]

I'm not going to embed the video in this post because I want to be really clear that it is a horrible nightmare. The first 6 minutes are just party scenes before the disaster. The fire starts around 6:15 and by 7:00 minutes it's already too late. I strongly suggest that you consider stopping watching at the 8 minute point. The cameraman walks around the back of the building, to the rear exit, it's flaming but no none is coming out. He then walks around towards the front again, there is a lot of smoke pouring out of the building and a guy in a black coat runs past. I strongly suggest you stop at this point, before he gets back to the front of the building. 31 people died within inches of escaping. There was a tragic pile of death in the front doorway. The last few minutes of the video contain the desperate attempts to help those people. It is very disturbing to see. Here is the link to the video. You have been warned.

 

[TimMc]

Regulations are written in the blood of the victims. The indoor use of pyro came to halt until new regs could be written and implemented. The casual use of pyro in bars and clubs has pretty much ended. "What? I need a license? And insurance?"

An older fire that has undergone recent scrutiny is the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Lexington, KY. A couple of decades later I'd work for the Shilling brothers at their casino in Tunica, MS. Ron S always wanted more pink in the LX, seems he had an aversion to reds and oranges.

 

[TimMc]

Years ago when I took OSHA 10 training we watched footage that was taken from a camera filming the show for the band.

It was absolutely terrifying to watch how fast the fire started and how none of the patrons realized they needed to get out before it was to late. The bottle neck at the door was the scariest part.

Our trainer told us the lawyer representing the family was top notch. Even got money out of the beer company that had their banner on the front of the venue.

This case should eventually become a text book example of risk assessment and creating an action plan for evacuating a venue in case of an emergency.

He got $100k out of JBL because their loudspeakers (in the club's PA system) had "foam" and "foam" was being blamed for both reduction in vision, flame spread, and toxic smoke generation. Harman/JBL likely decided it was cheaper than hiring lawyers in RI, expert witnesses, etc, and then risk being at the mercy of a jury. The likelihood of loudspeaker cone suspension contributing to deaths and injuries is pretty much zero, but proving that involves a much larger number.

 

[Les]

I took an OSHA 30 course (among several others) in college as part of my Occupational Safety degree and suggested to the professor that we should watch at least something about the Station fire - and not necessarily the raw uncut video. She said "oh no, not that", or something to that effect. I was a bit disappointed in that response, because that event can really put things in to perspective. Most of the videos we watched were animated and/or overly-produced and I think it kind of lends itself to a certain detachment to the 'human' aspect of these tragedies. It's one thing to talk about the importance of fire safety and prevention, and quite another to see the real effects. That being said, we did watch a lot of USCSB videos, and I highly recommend checking them out on YouTube.

I was also a full-time pyrotechnician during this time, and the Station fire was always at the back (and sometimes the forefront) of my mind, especially when doing indoor pyro. These fountains (gerbs) were seen as not necessarily "harmless", but very boring and elementary. "Ah, it's just a little gerb show".
We were all aware of their potential dangers and all safety precautions were taken (following safety distances 5' greater than the NFPA minimum, pulling permits, following a site plan, having fire marshals onsite, our own means of fire suppression/minimum number of fire extinguishers on-hand at all times, and of course all operators maintaining a current NFPA 1126 SEO license). But still, to me it was never 'just a little gerb show'. No, they weren't as exciting as some of the other effects we did, but they absolutely commanded great respect and care when handling and using.

I also thought the Station Nightclub incident should have been required curriculum for our pyro trainings, but they never did that.

I'm now a Tech Director at a theatre, and try to use my above experiences to guide myself and others in keeping our building safe; with working Exit signs, yearly certified fire extinguishers, clear emergency exits, and concise Stage & House Manager training. Sometimes it's a battle, because a surprising number of theatre employees and administrators have little more than passing knowledge of what happened at The Station (and for that matter, the Iroquois, Beverly Hills Supper Club, Cocoanut Grove, etc).

 

[RonHebbard]

I'm not going to embed the video in this post because I want to be really clear that it is a horrible nightmare. The first 6 minutes are just party scenes before the disaster. The fire starts around 6:15 and by 7:00 minutes it's already too late. I strongly suggest that you consider stopping watching at the 8 minute point. The cameraman walks around the back of the building, to the rear exit, it's flaming but no none is coming out. He then walks around towards the front again, there is a lot of smoke pouring out of the building and a guy in a black coat runs past. I strongly suggest you stop at this point, before he gets back to the front of the building. 31 people died within inches of escaping. There was a tragic pile of death in the front doorway. The last few minutes of the video contain the desperate attempts to help those people. It is very disturbing to see. Here is the link to the video. You have been warned.

Google wouldn't let me watch the video, they kept insisting I had to create a Google account before they'd let me watch it.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[FMEng]

Google wouldn't let me watch the video, they kept insisting I had to create a Google account before they'd let me watch it.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

It's probably age restricted. From Gaff's description that's a good thing.

 

[TimMc]

It's probably age restricted. From Gaff's description that's a good thing.

It is. Something about "maturity" needed. Sorry, Ron!

 

[gafftaper]

Yeah, it's age restricted for good reason. I'm surprised that it's actually stayed posted all these years. To me watching the video occasionally and being horrified again is a way of keeping the reminder of how important safety is. But I can also see how some would find it disrespectful of those we lost. Either way it's a decision not to be taken lughtly and it's good thing that those who are not mature (Ron?) are not allowed to stumble across it casually.

 

[NickVon]

I just watched the CBS 48hours event, and it was...underwelming. There are better, more in-depth, and horrifying videos that really get to the crux of the matter of Safety, Catastrophe, and regulations moving forward posted on Youtube as Gafftaper indicated.

 

[FMEng]

TV wants villains they can put on camera. The details are not good television for the same reason they wouldn't have made for a good prosecution. The fire led to better regulations and better inspections around the country, so some good came of it.

The foam used there never should have been on the market. Just a year or two after the fire, I installed some foam in an overly live radio studio. The next time the fire marshal came through, he wanted to see the paperwork on the foam. I handed him a copy of the manufacturer's flammability specs, which met with his approval. I think they did a burn test on a small sample a few years later.

The safer foam had a tendency to turn gooey after a few years. I don't see much of it used anymore. Fabric covered fiberglass panel is the favored product these days.

 

[gafftaper]

Yeah I just finished watching it. The only thing that really struck me as interesting was that the fire marshall had been through and didn't say anything about the foam. That was a huge failure. In the end there were a lot of people to blame and a lot of people got sued.

I've always wondered about the club's tech staff. Somebody must have seen the Great White guy setting up the pyro. Did they say anything? What was that conversation like? We will never know I suppose. I would hope that in the modern world with the ESA's message of we must all be responsible for safety, there would be a different outcome today.

 

[What Rigger?]

Yeah I just finished watching it. The only thing that really struck me as interesting was that the fire marshall had been through and didn't say anything about the foam. That was a huge failure. In the end there were a lot of people to blame and a lot of people got sued.

I've always wondered about the club's tech staff. Somebody must have seen the Great White guy setting up the pyro. Did they say anything? What was that conversation like? We will never know I suppose. I would hope that in the modern world with the ESA's message of we must all be responsible for safety, there would be a different outcome today.

Well, this assumes that a venue like The Station, that is a bar above and beyond anything else, hires smart/qualified people or does training. The short answer is: they don't. It's some guy who comes in whenever, gets paid whatevver and doesn't think anything beyond the sound being loud and hitting on Darla at the servers station.

 

[seanandkate]

Google wouldn't let me watch the video, they kept insisting I had to create a Google account before they'd let me watch it.

I just emailed you the video as a file Ron

 

[RonHebbard]

I just emailed you the video as a file Ron

Thank you for the lesson in purging the gene pool.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[TimMc]

Well, this assumes that a venue like The Station, that is a bar above and beyond anything else, hires smart/qualified people or does training. The short answer is: they don't. It's some guy who comes in whenever, gets paid whatevver and doesn't think anything beyond the sound being loud and hitting on Darla at the servers station.

Yep. "Production" in bars and 'nightclubs' tends to be lowest common demoninator including staff as well as gear. If a bar won't fix the blown subwoofers or re-lamp lighting fixtures, what would make anyone think a bar would hire someone who knew about public event safety AND give them any authority? It's all about selling alcohol and to a lesser extent, food.

Vices like alcohol pay for lots of things, indirectly that includes some of the wages we earn. I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth, only the propensity of alcohol vendors to narrowly focus on the goal of sales at the expense of other considerations, including/especially public safety.

 

[josh88]

I'm late to the game seeing this thread, but worked for years in rhode island and while this rippled for obvious reasons in our industry around the country, it's still rippling in the state. There are some serious regulations in RI as a result of this. Some that are really reactionary and some that are really valid. It was interesting feeling the fallout and working with people who lost friends in this fire. My wife had fire marshal issues with a cafetorium space because the "stage" built into the side of the room was classified as a "platform" even though it was an open 3 sided shoebox stage; the platform designation meant there were additional regulations. My venue was built a few years post fire and our fly house got cut short, meaning you couldn't fly out a full sized cyc completely because the builders thought it was better to take the savings in a 20' shorter building, to "fire proof" the theatre. Never got a clear answer as to what they did other than spray everything they could with flame retardant. Can't seat audience on wood framed platforms and mandatory fire announcements noting the exits.

It's been almost 20 years but it's still pretty recent for people around providence and I encountered a couple fire marshals who were working firefighters that responded to the fire. It's a surprisingly fresh wound.

 

[brucek]

We started including a "test flap" of fabric on all soft goods we spec. so that fire martials have some cloth to cut off for a flame test. It seemed that there was a huge "we must do something about this" before there was clear direction what "something" was. Every fire martial needed to do their own flame test to prove they were doing something. It is easier to say "you can cut a piece from the flap to test" than trying to explain why the flame test on IFR soft goods not all that useful...