Lisana's Lines

In my haste to pack and get ready to move last month, I forgot to pause and reflect upon an anniversary that forever changed the way that I feel when I attend indoor events and concerts. On Feb. 20, 2003, I was living in Buzzards Bay, Mass. On this day, the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in United States history where 100 people died happened in West Warwick, R. I. only 60 miles from where I lived.

For those of you who are not familiar with this, the band Great White was playing that night at The Station, a small concert hall/club/bar with no sprinkler systems, low ceilings, and egg-crate type foam noise proofing near the stage. The band used pyrotechnics during the opening song, and within 45 seconds, the foam behind the stage ignited and the entire stage area was engulfed in flames.

The capacity of The Station was 404 people, and there were 462 in attendance on the night of the fire. Most of the 100 people who died were near the exit doors, where people were piled on top of each from falling down while trying to escape.

I never went to The Station, and I wasn’t a Great White fan, but I was a DJ at the time of this fire. As a DJ, I had to attend many concerts that I wouldn’t have normally gone to, but luckily I didn’t have to go to this one. A couple of DJs weren’t so lucky. Two DJs died in the fire: Mike “The Doctor” Gonsalves from WHJY, and a college radio DJ, James C. Gahan from Falmouth, Mass., (a town very close to where I lived).

I remember waking up on the morning after the fire and turning on my TV to see the horror. The reports ran constantly on one channel, so all day long I watched the death toll rise.

I tried to reach a couple of my close friends by phone for hours before I finally received return calls. Lisa was a concert photographer and Barry was a sound technician. I feared that they might have had to work that show, but they didn’t. I was so relieved when they finally returned my calls.

This fire was shocking, and it should not have happened. Pyrotechnics scare me to this day, even in a larger venue.

For months following this fire, I nervously attended concerts. I found myself standing by an exit door through the entire show, and still do to this day. It isn’t just for concerts, but for any gathering in a large building, because deadly fires have taken place in all kinds of locations in the history of the U.S.

I was happy when many venues stopped allowing smoking inside, because a couple of the places that I frequented had wall-to-wall carpeting and heavy draperies in the seating/standing area.

Now, 10 years later, hopefully venues will take the precautions so that something like this doesn’t happen again.

Crosses with names of the people who died have remained at the site of the fire. People have gathered for the past decade at the site. The Station Fire Memorial Foundation keeps the memories of those who died alive, and recently the owner of the land where The Station was located donated it to the foundation so that a permanent memorial can be built.

When the memorial is completed, someday I will reflect upon the tragedy there, and hope that something like this never happens again.

Lisana Eckenrode can be contacted at [email protected].