Release date: November 27th, 2020
Cover blurb:
In only 90 seconds, a fire in the Station nightclub killed 100 people and injured hundreds more. It would take nearly 20 years to find out why—and who was really at fault.
All it took for a hundred people to die during a show by the hair metal band Great White was a sudden burst from two giant sparklers that ignited the acoustical foam lining the Station nightclub. But who was at fault? And who would pay? This being Rhode Island, the two questions wouldn’t necessarily have the same answer.
Within 24 hours the governor of Rhode Island and the local police commissioner were calling for criminal charges, although the investigation had barely begun, no real evidence had been gathered, and many of the victims hadn’t been identified. Though many parties could be held responsible, fingers pointed quickly at the two brothers who owned the club. But were they really to blame? Bestselling author and three-time Emmy Award-winning reporter Scott James investigates all the central figures, including the band’s manager and lead singer, the fire inspector, the maker of the acoustical foam, as well as the brothers. Drawing on firsthand accounts, interviews with many involved, and court documents, James explores the rush to judgment about what happened that left the victims and their families, whose stories he also tells, desperate for justice.
Trial By Fire is the heart-wrenching story of the fire’s aftermath because while the fire, one of America’s deadliest, lasted fewer than two minutes, the search for the truth would take twenty years.
One definition of an accident is ‘an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting damage or injury.’ (Oxford) The Station nightclub fire of 2003 is a heartbreaking example where a series of seemingly unconnected human errors lead to the deaths of 100 people. The footage shot by a local television camerman that night is undoubtedly one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen, in some ways even more than that of 9/11. While there is footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers, we have never seen the moments immediately afterwards and can only imagine the absolute shock and terror of the people inside as the realization of what was happening dawned on them, but with the Station fire we see and hear every awful gut-wrenching moment. The carefree patrons are enjoying a night of music topped off by a performance by Jack Russell’s Great White, best known for their remake of “Once Bitten Twice Shy” when they are suddenly thrown into chaos after a pyrotechnics display sets the walls and ceiling on fire. The fire spreads so rapidly that 90 seconds made the difference between life and death for many of the victims, and this book does an excellent job of explaning the roots of the disaster.
While I will not go into the various causes here, I will say that for me the most intriguing part presented was the account of the nightclub’s owners. One of the things I remembered the most about the tragedy was the immediate condemnation of the Derderian brothers afterwards, yet until now we had never heard their side of the story. I will admit that prior to reading the book I had pinned the guilt squarely on them and the band’s tour manager that set off the gerbs. Almost everything reported was about how their supposed greed led to the fire, including how the one working that night was accused of saving himself and the cash drawer instead of helping others. Yet I’m struck now by how shallow my understanding was, and while there is absolutely no argument that they do share in the blame, there are others out there that carry a large part of the responsibility as well.
The author skillfully blends in the stories of some of the victims and survivors to the overall narrative along with the genuinely fascinating aspects of politics in Rhode Island that contributed to what I thought I knew about this incident and the aftermath. Due to the subject matter this is not one that I can recommend to all readers, but for fellow true crime fans this is a worthwhile exploration of how an event like this can occur even in the 2000s and insight into the flaws of the legal system that both can both condemn and protect.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read this early; all opinions are my own.