Do you remember the Station night club fire in Rhode Island on February 20, 2003? A hundred people died horrific deaths when pyrotechnics set off during a concert started a fire that gutted the jampacked building.
The owners of the night club still await trial. So far only the rock band’s tour manager has gone through the judicial system. He pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and apologized at his sentencing hearing to the families of all his victims.
In an era of “admit nothing” and “I apologize if anything I did happened to offend you” it’s a rare experience to see honest remorse, honestly and freely expressed.
I definitely remember when that terrible story broke. Being someone who enjoys going to see live bands and has some friends in local bands, it is especially poignant to me to think that something like that could have happened to me or someone I know.
I feel sorry for everyone involved in the tragedy. It’s not like anyone had malicious intent - it was just a terrible mistake. I’m glad that this guy seems to want to take responsibility for his part in it. I agree with you that there are too many people nowadays who don’t want to take responsibility and offer sincere apologies.
Thank you for pointing this out. I really thought I was completely insane when I was reading about the horrible way this man was being treated because of something that was so completely an accident.
No, I don’t know anyone who was hurt or killed because of this incident, and maybe that would change my feelings, but everything I’d ever read about him and Great White indicated these were good guys who managed to get caught up in something really bad. That doesn’t make it any better, but as has been pointed out, Biechele didn’t have to do anything other than serve his time.
Accidents happen. Bad things happen to good people. It’s part of life, whether we like it or not. Thing is, you do the best you can with what you’re dealt. Isn’t that what Biechele has done? I sure think so.
I agree. Horrible decisions made on the part of the manager et al, horrible, horrific accident, horrible tragedy. The manager being charged with murder doesn’t bring back the lost loved ones.
One thing to keep in mind if you’re wondering how it could happen that the manager was vilified so is that RI is so, so small. Ridiculously small. This fire was inconceivable in scope. (It’d be equally as tragic and horrifying anywhere, but in RI it was beyond anything we could conceive of.) If you don’t know someone personally who died in the fire, you know someone who knew someone personally who died in the fire. It is still nightly news here.
I work next door to the Providence Superior court; in fact, Mr. Biechle’s judge parks outside our window. Earlier last week they had to station a cop at the rarely used side door because Biechle’s petition for work release was being heard and it’s feared that people might want to do violence against him. But, I agree completely. This is a stand up guy. I feel his sorrow and regret is beyond sincere and am tempted every day to leave the judge a note asking if there’s anyway he can end the jail term. But, I’m not so stand up myself and fear getting in trouble.
Oh, I know it. I spent 4 years at URI in the 70’s and even though I never lived there after graduation, it’s always had a soft spot in my heart. I likely have paid some more attention to the story because of that, but it still doesn’t change the horror of what happened to all of the innocents, including Mr. Biechele.
Talk about small, I still chuckle when I think about a friend’s father who lived in Pawtucket and had to work in Westerly for 3 days. He stayed in a hotel because it was such a long ride (1hr 15 minutes, which in the NYC Metro area is just another day in paradise). Or something
I watched his sentencing on Court TV and I’ve never, ever seen anyone look so remorseful for the part they played in a tragedy. He was (IMHO) completely sincere in his apologies to the families and honestly heartbroken by the whole thing. He seems like a good person that did the same thing countless other bands had done at that club (lit pyrotechnics) and had a terrible outcome. I’ll be interested to see what happens with the club owners, who had the whole stage area lined with flammable soundproofing materials but still allowed the pyros to be lit (on many occasions, not just this one). Awful, the whole thing. I think that he’s a stand up guy too.
