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Essay about Station Fire

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Synopsis In West Warwick Rhode Island, on February 20th, 2003, during the performance of the band Great White, a fire broke out that eventually claimed the lives of 100 people and injured an additional 200. The band’s tour manager arranged for, and ignited pyrotechnic props, large fireworks designed to display a shower of sparks. The sparks ignited foam soundproofing near stage. The fire spread quickly. Most were killed either in the crush to exit the building or overcome by fumes while trying to find an exit. The immediate cause was well documented due to witness reports and a videotape that was taken during the concert. In the period that followed the tragedy there were many attempts to fix blame. Following a Grand Jury …show more content…

Several handheld extinguishers are located at various points in the club. There was no fire suppression system. Sprinklers had never been installed. There is some debate over whether the Station was required to have a sprinkler installed. The Station had recently received an inspection by West Warwick Fire Marshal Dennis Laroque. The owners were cited for several violations including expired fire extinguishers and some that needed to be hung along with gasoline stored inside the building. In his statements to police, Laroque says that the critical violation that he was concerned about was the exit door near the stage. It had a second inner door that did not have panic hardware attached and opened into the showroom. They had been previously cited and had removed the door to pass follow-up inspections only to replace it shortly after. The occupancy capacity for the Station is also up for debate. There are notations in West Warwick permitting documents as low as 253 and as high as 404. The NIST estimates that 2003 model codes would place occupancy at about 430 people with no tables and chairs. Estimates of the crowd on the night of the fire range from 440 to 458. Attorney General, Patrick Lynch’s office puts the number at 458. Pyrotechnics and Foam The pyrotechnics that ignited the fire were designed to spray sparks 15 feet for 15 seconds. The two that were mounted at outward angles ignited foam that had

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