.jpg) | |
 Location of The Station nightclub | |
| Date | February 20, 2003 |
|---|---|
| Time | 11:07 p.m. (EST) |
| Location | 211 Cowesett Avenue, West Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°41′04″N 71°30′39″W / 41.6844°N 71.5109°W |
| Cause | Fireworks accident (ignition of acoustic foam by pyrotechnics) |
| Deaths | 100[a] |
| Non-fatal injuries | 230 |
The Station nightclub fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, at The Station, a nightclub and hard rock music venue located at 211 Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230. During a concert by the rock band Jack Russell's Great White, an offshoot of the original Great White band, a pyrotechnic display ignited flammable acoustic foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. Within six minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames. The fire was the deadliest fireworks accident in U.S. history and the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It was also the second-deadliest nightclub fire in New England, behind the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire.
After the fire, multiple civil and criminal cases were filed. Daniel Biechele, the tour manager for Great White who had ignited the pyrotechnics, pled guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2006 and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison with four to serve. Biechele was released from prison in 2008 after some families of the victims expressed their support for his parole. Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the owners of the Station, pleaded no contest and avoided a trial: Michael received the same sentence as Biechele and was released from prison in 2009, while Jeffrey received a sentence of 500 hours of community service. Legal action against several parties, including Great White, was resolved with monetary settlements by 2008.
Station Fire Memorial Park, a permanent memorial to the fire victims, was opened in May 2017 at the site where the Station once stood.
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