# Fire in West Warwick, RI **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525 "2003-02-21T12:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/1 "2003-02-21T12:04:50Z")
[url=“[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/deadly.nightclub.fire/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/deadly.nightclub.fire/index.html)”]Here[/rl]. As of 7 a.m. Eastern there were 39 deaths, according to Today. Hopefully, **Euty** and all of his family and friends are OK. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/2 "2003-02-21T12:06:29Z")
Oops. [Cite](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/deadly.nightclub.fire/index.html) once again. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/3 "2003-02-21T12:40:54Z")
This is just horrible. (And my second thought after the shock was, \*any dopers in this area? \*) ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/4 "2003-02-21T12:49:24Z")
**Eutychus** lives in West Warwick, RI. Only about a half mile from the tragedy, in fact. He is okay, though, as he wrote an entry in his Live Journal. He doesn’t have internet access at work, and the board was updating and inaccessible when he was getting ready this morning, so he did ask for someone to post this on the board. A terrible tragedy. But **Euty** is fine. Ironically, not having a life saved his life. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/5 "2003-02-21T12:49:43Z")
It only occurred to me because **Euty** has that in the location next to his name and I’d never seen or heard of that place before so it stuck in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/6 "2003-02-21T12:51:33Z")
Good to hear. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/7 "2003-02-21T15:19:54Z")
**Rasa** and **broccoli!** are also fine. As are my other friends in RI. Thankfully. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/8 "2003-02-21T15:25:56Z")
I drove by it yesterday and everything was fine, the band was advertising and everything was normal… This is so tragic, I send my deepest condolences to all who knew anyone involved… Very creepy that it was video-taped, even creepier that it is the second such accident in a week… and almost the 60th anniversary of the worst club incident ever in the US where over 450 people died at the coconut lounge in Boston… ☹ Glad you are ok **Euty** ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/9 "2003-02-21T15:27:34Z")
This is so weird. On Tuesday we were discussing the Chicago night club tragedy, and it got into a debate on whether it’s worse to be trampled or burned to death. I’m freaking out here. But I’m glad all Rhode Island Dopers are okay. I was worried about Euty. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/10 "2003-02-21T18:21:54Z")
Yep, fine here. I’ve been to The Station a few times and have friends that are regulars there, but I’m pretty sure they’re all fine. No news is good news, right? Right. My mom called me this morning to make sure I wasn’t there. I mean… Great White? I may have eclectic tastes but even she should know better. Ah well, that’s what moms do I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/11 "2003-02-21T18:56:18Z")
Up to 65 deaths now including one of the band ☹ Apparently no sprinkler system to deal with the fireworks ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/12 "2003-02-21T20:06:51Z")
Now it’s gone up to 85. There are also 19 people on life support. This is so sad…☹ > **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/13 "2003-02-21T21:28:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\* But I’m glad all Rhode Island Dopers are okay. \*\* Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/14 "2003-02-21T21:34:30Z")
And the finger-pointing starts… The band, of course, say they _always_ ask permission. The club, of course, says no permission was given (or even asked). Well, some lawyer always manages to make money off tragedy… This has been a really crummy week, folks. 21 dead in Chicago, organ transplant mix-up, 86 dead (and counting) in Rhode Island… not to mention those two guys I know who also died in a plane crash this week… I’m hiding under the covers - whose with me? On second thought - maybe we should hide under our own covers to minimize the chances of anything else bad happening. Cripes, who needs terrorism to cause death and confusion? ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/15 "2003-02-21T21:36:51Z")
Did we find out if the guitarist for Great White escaped? Overnight (yes, I watched coverage of this for about 4 hours absentmindedly whilst typing an outline for my paper on the Bush Administration’s gutting of the Clean Air Act) they were saying he might be dead. BTW, I know it shouldn’t be funny, nor should anything about this, but it was somewhat amusing hearing Great White being referred to as a “popular heavy metal band” all night by clueless FoxNews reporters. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/16 "2003-02-22T00:23:00Z")
phlosphr, coconut grove is the first thought i have when i hear of night club tragedies. there were so many code changes after the fire in boston. so very sad, the people who made it out have a long recovery before them. the families of those who died, goodness, what they are dealing with. tonight on the evening news they showed one of the wait staff, she has a 7 year old son, she is amoung the missing. so very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Marvel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marvel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvel)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/17 "2003-02-22T00:30:27Z")
I’m astonished that the building was “too small” by city or state fire code standards to need sprinklers. THe place could hold 300 people for heaven’s sake! Wouldn’t _50_ be a better cut-off? Just my two cents. On the up-side, I saw one young lady interviewed on CNN who said that she was trapped by an exit but some guy, a total stranger, pulled her out. Cheers to everyone who had the balls to go back for someone they didn’t even know. Patty ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/18 "2003-02-22T00:48:09Z")
I live at one of the main intersection in West Warwick and the fire engines are going through here all the time so I didn’t even wake up when they must have been going through. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning as I usually do. I normally have the radio set to WPRO which runs “Coast to Coast” and is usually enough to rouse my ire to get me started for the day. Today, however, the news was on which was when I heard about what had happened. It was staggering even then to hear that 10 people had died. This just doesn’t happen here. I had never been to The Station but drove past it almost every day. I almost went once. Back on the old AOL days I had a friend named WiteWytch (which some of you may recognize) who at that time drove a tour bus for rock groups. She made a stop there with the group she was driving around and we were supposed to meet but for some reason we didn’t get the chance to hook up. That was the closest I ever got to the place. It just got worse during the day. By 12:00 they had reported 54 confirmed dead. By that time they had just begun to move the heavy equipment into place to move away the rubble to see what they could find. You know what the hardest part of the day was? Looking around at work to see who might not have shown up for whatever reason and wondering if they were there. The police are not releasing any names yet and I don’t think I would have known anyone who was there, but I’m sure to know someone who knows someone. 95 dead. You know what the kicker is? With a town as small as West Warwick, 95 people would be an entire high school graduating class. 95 dead. God help us. ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/19 "2003-02-22T00:50:24Z")
I don’t think the guitarist escaped… we’ve been listening to coverage most of the day. One of the DJs for the radio station we listen to (WHJY) is also missing and probably dead. Hard to imagine all those people trapped like that and so soon after the Chicago fire. Every time they run a story they up the death toll. To be a rescue/recovery worker is one awful job. Supposedly the guy doing the video was writing a story connecting his experiences in nightclubs to the Chicago episode… he got out and got a far scarier comparison that he bargained for! I saw great white a couple years back (and in the 80’s) (totally irrelevant I know) and was happy they were making a comeback. ---
**Author:** ![Cleanup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@Cleanup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleanup)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525/20 "2003-02-22T01:02:17Z")
I haven’t heard about this all day… just now… watching it on BBC World. Looks pretty crazy. 96 dead… final count… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-in-west-warwick-ri/156525.md?page=2)