Pod Insights American Scandal Station Nightclub Fire | No Exit | 2 About this episode On the night of February 20, 2003, excitement fills the Station as the crowd eagerly awaits a performance by Jack Russell and Great White. But seconds into the show, sparks from a pyrotechnic display ignite the walls, unleashing a fire that spreads with terrifying speed.
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0:00 Lindsay Graham? Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. A listener note: This episode contains graphic descriptions of death and fire-related injuries and may not be suitable for a younger audience. It's February 20th in West Warwick, Rhode Island, just after 11 p.m. 38-year-old Fred Chrysostomy is inside the station nightclub, standing just a few feet from stage.
0:44 Lindsay Graham? He has one arm wrapped around his fiancee Gina Russo while his other hand grips a beer. He smiles, soaking up the energy of the crowd packed in around him and pleased with the way he's been able to turn this night around. Only half an hour ago, he was sitting in Russo's living room, mindlessly flipping through TV channels and bored out of his mind. But now he feels a rush of excitement as he's just moments away from seeing 80's metal band Great White live onstage. The lights go dark and the crowd roars. The show is about to begin. And then, from somewhere in the darkness, a single guitar chord rings out and a wall of sparks shoots up from the foot of the stage, illuminating the band. Lead singer Jack Russell steps forward, grabbing the mic with both hands.
1:29 Lindsay Graham? He belts out the opening lyrics to "Desert Moon," and the whole crowd shouts along with him. It's an electric moment. But then Chrysostomy notices flames behind the stage. He taps Russo's arm and points to the fire now crawling up the back wall. She looks back at him, her eyes wide. No one else seems to notice. The band is still playing and the crowd continues to dance and sing, and for a moment, Chrysostomy wonders if maybe this is part of the show. But as he watches the flames race up the wall behind the drummer, growing larger and larger, he realizes there's no way this is planned. He and Russo need to get out of there. So Chrysostomy places his drink on the edge of the stage and puts both his hands on his
2:12 Lindsay Graham? fiancee's shoulders, directing her to the closest exit, a door just to the right of the stage, only a few feet away.
2:22 Lindsay Graham? But as Chrysostomy and Russo approached this exit, a tall man in a black t-shirt that leads event security steps in front of the door. No exit. You need to go back through the main entrance. We need to get out of here right now. Sorry, band only. Chrysostomy tries to step around the bouncer, but the man moves to block his way. Hey, are you deaf? There's no exit. It's club policy. Chrysostomy turns his head. From this angle, the flames aren't visible. Hey, man, you can't see it from here, but the wall behind the stage is on fire. We need to leave. Exit the way you came in, through the front entrance. Did you hear what I said? There's a fire. No one gets through this door except the band. This is an emergency. Look, if you want to leave, use the front entrance.
3:06 Lindsay Graham? What is wrong with you? The building's on fire. But the bouncer just crosses his arms over his chest, making it clear he's not letting the couple pass.
3:17 Lindsay Graham? As Chrysostomy grabs Russo's hand and pulls Russo back into the crowd, he hears great white lead singer Jack Russell stop singing and say, "That's not good." And suddenly, the fire alarm starts to blare. People all around them drop their drinks in panic as they realize the fire on stage is real and uncontrolled. The crowd collectively turns to the front entrance, the same door Chrysostomy and Russo were heading for. And as the people close in, it gets harder and harder for any of them to maneuver. Chrysostomy grits his teeth and tries to pull Russo through the crowd. The front entrance is less than 100 feet away, but the club is starting to fill up with smoke and screaming.
4:02 Speaker 01 Hi, I'm Candace DeLong, former FBI profiler and host of the podcast Killer Psyche. In our latest episode, we go inside the case of Krista Pike, the woman Tennessee tried to execute and failed. Listen to Killer Psyche on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.
4:21 Lindsay Graham? Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of American History Tellers. In our latest series, US Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greeley and 24 other men embark on a scientific expedition to the Arctic in 1881. But despite achieving several triumphs of discovery, the men will soon face tragedy. Listen to American History Tellers on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.
4:49 Lindsay Graham? From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scandal.
5:14 Lindsay Graham? In early 2000, Michael and Jeffrey Dardarian bought the Station Nightclub. It was a side hustle for the brothers, who kept their day jobs. Still, they worked hard to make the club profitable, and the station was a popular hangout for locals, though it rarely attracted large crowds. That wasn't the case on February 20, 2003, when the club hosted 80's rock band Great White. This was a much bigger act than usually played at the station, and that night, the place was packed, wall to wall. But the show took a horrifying turn when a pyrotechnic display set off by the band's tour manager ignited a fast-moving fire, leaving hundreds of people stuck inside the club, desperate to get out.
5:55 Lindsay Graham? This is episode 2, "No Exit." It's just after 11:00 PM inside the Station Nightclub. Fire alarms are blaring, emergency lights are flashing, and 42-year-old Gina Galvin is desperately trying to push her way to the main entrance of the club. But there are so many people blocking her way, she can't even see where she's going. She's beginning to feel panic, rising up in her chest. Only minutes ago, she'd been thrilled to get a spot so close to the stage. As a single mom to three kids, Galvin doesn't get out much, so it felt extra special to be just feet away from one of her all-time favorite bands. Now she wishes she hadn't been so lucky, that she'd been forced to stay in the back,
6:40 Lindsay Graham? near the door, or back home, safe with her kids. Galvin looks around frantically, wondering if there's any other door she can go through. But the wall behind her is engulfed by flames. She watches them race up to the ceiling and then spread in her direction. There's no time to look for another way out, even if she could fight against the crowd. She has to make it to the front door. Galvin's breathing gets shallow as smoke fills the room. It's so thick and dark that Galvin can barely see. She pulls her shirt over her mouth, trying to filter out some of the smoke, but it does little to help. Her throat burns and her heart pounds. She wishes the sprinklers would go off, or something, anything that would slow the spread of the flames.
7:23 Lindsay Graham? But instead, the lights go out, leaving the roaring flames as the only illumination. People scream in terror. And Galvin realizes she's lost all sense of direction. All she can do now is just keep moving with the crowd and hope she's still heading toward the door.
7:43 Lindsay Graham? Fred Chrysostomy and his fiance Gina Russo are also still caught in the crowd as they try to make their way to the front entrance. But the club's narrow entryway is designed to prevent anyone from sneaking in without a ticket, and it's turned into a deadly bottleneck. Everyone's pushing against each other and the crowd has become impossible to maneuver through. Chrysostomy yells to Russo that whatever she does, she has to stay on her feet. Russo nods that she understands. If she falls, she'll likely be trampled. Meanwhile, construction worker Rick Sinetti ushers his wife toward the emergency exit behind the bar. When the fire broke out, Sinetti and his wife were standing near the back of the club. And within seconds of seeing the flames, Sinetti realized something was wrong.
8:27 Lindsay Graham? So now, holding his wife's hand, he pushes through the crowd. It seems like most of the patrons don't know about the emergency exit. While there are hundreds of people gathering near the main door, only about thirty or forty people are trying to escape through the bar. But even getting that many people through a doorway still takes time, and the smoke is getting thicker. Sannetti pushes ahead with all his strength until finally the people in front of him fall forward through the exit. He and his wife burst through the door and topple onto them. For a second, Sannetti lies there stunned, savoring the frigid air of outside. Then he snaps to attention and remembers his niece Bridget and her friend Katie O'Donnell. They went to the restroom right before the show started. He's concerned they may still be inside.
9:12 Lindsay Graham? Sannetti scrambles to his feet and tells his wife that he's going to find their niece. He runs around to the front of the building, hoping that Bridget and Katie made it out there, but as he comes around the corner, what he sees stops him short. A large picture window runs along the front of the club and the glass is shattered in several places. Patrons are desperately trying to climb out through the broken glass. A man standing close to the building is helping to pull people out. Sannetti runs over to add another set of hands, but the heat coming from inside the building is overpowering. Smoke billows into his face, and even though it's below freezing outside, sweat pours down his forehead.
9:52 Lindsay Graham? He shouts Bridget's name, but all he can hear back is wailing and screams. A woman reaches her hand through the window, and Sannetti grabs it and helps pull her through. As she emerges, Sannetti sees that her clothes are on fire. He pushes her into a snowbank to put out the flames, then he turns back to the broken window where more people are yelling and reaching out, desperate to get out. Sannetti screams Bridget's name over and over as he pulls more and more people out, hoping that the next person might be his niece. But the heat is getting so intense, Sannetti's eyes and skin are starting to sting. His throat burns, but he won't stop until he finds Bridget.
10:33 Lindsay Graham? He continues yelling her name into the window and pulling people out, but soon the flow of people gets slower. Sannetti sees a young man crawl toward the window. He barely looks old enough to be in the bar. Sannetti reaches out his hand and beckons for the young man to grab it. The kid extends his arm, and Sannetti grabs hold of his wrist and pulls. But then he suddenly stumbles backwards. He's lost his grasp on the kid's hand. Determined to try again, Sannetti steps toward the window and pauses, realizing he's still holding something. He opens his fist and finds a blackened clump. He doesn't know what it is until it suddenly hits him. It's the kid's burnt skin. Sennetti has pulled it right off.
11:18 Lindsay Graham? Still, he rushes forward to look for the young man, but he's fallen out of sight. Fighting through the smoke and heat, Sennetti yells again for his niece Bridget, hoping that she hasn't met the same fate. But even as the smoke grows only thicker, the screams are dying out.
11:37 Lindsay Graham? Minutes after the blaze erupted, at 11:10 PM, the bell goes off at West Warwick Firehouse Number Four. An intercom blares that there's a building fire at the Station Nightclub, just a half mile away, and the firefighters spring into action. Lieutenant Roger St. Jean and his partner Aaron Perkins hop into the driver's seat of Engine Four. Within seconds of the alarm, they're speeding through the frigid night sirens screaming. The firehouse's ladder truck is right behind them. St. Jean is a 16-year veteran of the West Warwick Fire Department and has attended hundreds of building fires. He knows how they usually progress and the pace at which they spread. But when the truck arrives at the station only a minute later, St. Jean is stunned by what he sees.
12:20 Lindsay Graham? The Station Nightclub fire is unlike anything he's seen before. Flames shoot from the roof. Thick, black smoke bellows from the windows. Melting tar is falling from the building like hot, black rain. None of this is right, because with modern building codes, fires are not supposed to spread this quickly or burn with such intensity. St. Jean grabs the radio and reports "heavy fire showing." But even that feels like an understatement. His partner Perkins maneuvers the fire engine through the parking lot, where dozens of survivors have congregated, waiting for help. Some of them are wandering aimlessly, looking shell-shocked. Others lay in snowbanks, desperately trying to relieve their burns. Perkins brings the truck to a halt less than 100 feet from the door, where people are
13:05 Lindsay Graham? still trying to get out. If St. Jean and his team are going to save anyone who's still inside, they need to work quickly.
13:15 Lindsay Graham? So St. Jean jumps off the truck, begins pulling out a hose, while Perkins takes up his position by the pump. St. Jean yells back, going over the plan of the attack. "I'm gonna start by hosing above the door. We gotta keep these flames away from the exit, so people can get out. I say we forget trying to save the structure. Right now, our only objective is saving lives. God, there has to be something feeding this fire. No way you should be burning this big and fast. I know, it almost looks like a gasoline fire. We need the special hazards unit here." St. Jean agrees and reaches for his radio to call it in. The dispatcher confirms that the team is on their way, along with backup. He turns back to Perkins. "We need to get our guys in there with hoses to establish search and rescue paths." "I don't think that's gonna be enough. Look at this thing. We should use water cannons.
14:00 Lindsay Graham? There's no way we can push back the flames without them." "That's not protocol. I don't like the idea of hitting a building with cannons while we're still trying to pull out survivors." "I hear you, but if we don't slow this fire down, we're not gonna be able to save anyone." St. Jean looks over his shoulder at the raging fire behind him. "Okay, you're right. This thing's burning too fast. We're just gonna have to risk it."
14:22 Lindsay Graham? Lieutenant St. Jean gets on his radio to relay the new direction to the other firefighters on scene. But as he looks up at the flames shooting up from the roof, he's not sure even water cannons are gonna be enough. The fire is burning too hot. His crew will rescue as many victims as they can, but even though they got here within minutes of the call, it feels like they're already too late.
14:47 Speaker 02 There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and The Fire Next Time, to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead. The president is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped his thinking on everything from fatherhood to leadership, and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create.
15:31 Speaker 02 Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A Great Book with Barack Obama ad-free right now, plus access each audiobook discussed in the series. Download the Audible app today.
15:47 Speaker 03 Hey, I'm Cassie DePecce, the host of Against the Odds from Audible Originals. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who lived to tell the tale. In our latest series, we track the story of Hugh Glass, the real-life revenant that inspired the 2015 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1823, Glass was brutally mauled by a grizzly bear in present-day South Dakota and left for dead. His survival depended on trekking through 350 miles of wilderness alone with grave injuries. But he was driven by his thirst for revenge. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
16:42 Lindsay Graham? By the time the firefighters arrive at the station, single mother Gina Galvin is close to the front of the club. The lights are out, and the whole place is filled with smoke. Her lungs burn with every breath. She's suffocating. She needs to escape, but the crowd in the front entryway is so tightly packed that it's barely moving. There are people all around her, frantically pushing and jostling. Behind her, she can hear them screaming in pain, shouting that they're burning alive. Galvin keeps inching forward. She knows she's close because she can see the doors. She just can't get there. Then, suddenly, someone pulls on her back, trying to move past her, yelling that he can't die like this. Galvin fights to stay on her feet until, suddenly, the people in front of her fall forward, tumbling
17:26 Lindsay Graham? like dominoes on top of each other. Galvin is caught up in the rush. People's elbows, shoulders, and heads bash into her as she's pitched toward the ground. She's caught in the middle of a pile of bodies, just inches from the door, with people below and on top of her. Galvin's head and arms are free, but her legs are pinned underneath the pile. She can feel people on top of her moving, also trying to get free. But soon they become still, and Galvin realizes with horror that they've died. The flames are getting closer. Every breath singes her lungs. She makes one more effort to get free, but she's so weak. And then she loses consciousness. Several feet behind Galvin, Gina Russo and her fiance Fred Chrysostomy
18:10 Lindsay Graham? have reached the ticket booth, right where the narrow corridor to the entry begins. But then the wave of people that caught Galvin fell forward. Russo and Chrysostomy manage to stay on their feet. But in the pandemonium, they get separated. At some point Russo felt her fiance give her a push forward, yelling at her to go, and his hand slipped from her back. Russo turned to look for him, but he was lost in the crowd and smoke. Now she's alone, telling herself that Chrysostomy is going to be okay, that he's strong and resourceful, that she has to focus on getting herself out. Russo looks forward. The doors are close, but there's a wall of bodies blocking the exit. All around her, people's hair and clothes are on fire, but it's like they don't even notice.
18:55 Lindsay Graham? In their desperation to get out, people are frantically tripping over each other, falling and adding to the mass of bodies blocking the door. Russo is also getting crushed. Chrysostomy had told her to stay on her feet, and she's doing her best, but it's getting harder and harder to stay upright. Smoke is so thick. Feels like there's barely any air left in the room. She's gasping, her lungs seizing, and in a flash it hits her. She's not going to get out of here in time. This is how she'll die. A wave of calm comes over her. There's nothing more she can do but accept her fate. She pictures the faces of her sons Alex and Nicholas. She prays to God that they have a good life, that they can forgive her for leaving them without a mother. And as she finishes her prayer, she falls to the floor.
19:44 Lindsay Graham? Outside the station nightclub, the scene is chaotic. Around 11:15 PM, some 10 minutes after the concert started, several fire engines are on-site, working to rescue as many people as possible. They've set up hoses and established rescue lines, hoping to form paths into the building they can use to pull people out. But they are rapidly running out of time. The fire is blazing faster and hotter than any of them have ever seen. There's also been miscommunication between various teams on-site, delaying the trucks from getting into the best positions to tackle the fire. They're also battling the extreme cold. It's the dead of winter, and the water from the hoses is starting to freeze. There's also Great White's tour bus.
20:26 Lindsay Graham? It's parked alongside the building, blocking firefighters' access. It needs to be moved, but the bus driver isn't on-site. First responders yell for someone to get the bus out of the way, and Great White's tour manager, Daniel Beakley, realizes he's the only one who can help. He springs into action, relieved that there's something he can do after setting off the pyrotechnics. Beakley knew almost instantly after igniting them that he'd made a mistake. He knew the devices could shoot sparks up to 15 feet in the air, but he hadn't thought to check the height of the station's ceilings, which were clearly less than that. As soon as he saw that the walls had caught fire, he ran to the bar, yelling for a fire extinguisher. But by the time he got it, the flames were already too big.
21:09 Lindsay Graham? Beakley managed to exit through the stage door, and most of the band members followed. Now, he's racked with guilt and desperate to help. So when he hears the firefighters' calls to move the bus, Beakley pulls the keys from his pocket and runs with his heart pounding. He climbs into the driver's seat and starts the engine. He's never driven the bus before, but the driver is asleep at a nearby motel. Beakley immediately realizes, though, that he can't figure out how to release the emergency brake. Panicked, he takes out his cellphone and dials the driver's number. The driver groggily answers. Beakley tries to explain the situation, but his voice is shaky, and he's talking fast. The driver doesn't understand what he's saying. So Beakley forces himself to slow down, and finally, the driver understands, explaining
21:53 Lindsay Graham? how to release the brake. Beakley follows his instructions and is able to move the bus out of the way. It's a small victory, but at least it's something he could do to help. Meanwhile, while Beakley is trying to help the firefighters, Channel 12 videographer Brian Butler is filming their efforts. Butler was inside the club at the behest of one of the club's owners, Jeffrey Dardarian, whose day job is working as a reporter for Channel 12. Ironically, Jeffrey had asked Butler to shoot background footage for a story Jeffrey was doing about safety at nightclubs and concert venues. And when Butler saw the flames through the viewfinder of his camera, he immediately realized something was wrong. He picked up the camera on his tripod and made his way to the exit as quickly as possible.
22:37 Lindsay Graham? He continued filming the entire time, capturing the flames as they spread. Once outside, Butler set up his camera by the news van, aimed it at the building, and made a call back to the TV station. He told them a fire had broken out at the nightclub, and he had it all on tape. Butler keeps filming as the building becomes engulfed in flames, while his colleague Jeffrey Dardarian paces nervously back and forth across the parking lot. As a news reporter, Jeffrey has witnessed the aftermath of tragedies firsthand, including the recent 9/11 terrorist attacks, but he's never experienced anything like this. He'd been bartending when the fire broke out. He saw the flames climbing up the wall and heard Jack Russell stop singing mid-song. Jeffrey grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed out from behind the bar,
23:22 Lindsay Graham? passing it off to someone with a band, but he soon realized it was no match for the flames. So he started helping people exit before getting caught up in the stampede and carried out through the door. But even after he got outside, Jeffrey started running around the building, trying every way he could to get people out. Eventually, though, the first responders started pushing him back, telling him it was too dangerous. Now all he can do is pace and watch as his nightclub turns into an inferno. He feels helpless, paralyzed by his inability to do anything. Suddenly, it occurs to him that his brother Michael doesn't know what's happening. Michael is in Florida with his family, about to get on a cruise the next morning. So Jeffrey pats down his pockets, looking for his phone, but it's not there.
24:07 Lindsay Graham? He looks back at the flaming building. He must have left it somewhere inside the club. Desperate, Jeffrey looks around and spots a man wandering aimlessly, looking as lost and overwhelmed as Jeffrey feels. Jeffrey yells out and asks the man if he has a cellphone. The man stares blankly, and then, like he's in a trance, holds out his phone. Jeffrey grabs it.
24:32 Lindsay Graham? His hands shaking, he dials his brother's number. Thankfully, Michael picks up after only the first ring.
24:38 Speaker 04 Hello?
24:39 Lindsay Graham? Michael, the club's on fire.
24:41 Speaker 04 Who is this?
24:42 Lindsay Graham? Mi- it's me, Jeffrey, your brother.
24:44 Speaker 04 What? Whose phone is this?
24:46 Lindsay Graham? The club is on fire.
24:47 Speaker 04 What do you mean the club's on fire?
24:49 Lindsay Graham? The club is on fire. It was the fireworks. I don't know, something went wrong. The whole thing is on fire.
24:54 Speaker 04 Is the fire department there?
24:56 Lindsay Graham? Yeah, they're here.
24:57 Speaker 04 So it's under control? Jeffrey, what's going on? Is the fire out?
25:02 Lindsay Graham? Jeffrey realizes that his brother must think this is a small fire. And Jeffrey can't figure out how to explain just how bad it is. Look, Michael, I'm gonna have to call you back.
25:11 Speaker 04 Jeff- Jeffrey, wait. Just tell me what's happening.
25:16 Lindsay Graham? Jeffrey hangs up and hands the phone back to the stranger who lent it to him. He doesn't have the words to describe what he's seeing. Because as he watches the flames continue to overrun the building, he knows nothing is ever gonna be the same again. Not for him, not for Michael, not for anyone who is in the club tonight.
25:38 Speaker 05 Ghosts aren't real. At least, that's what journalist Tristan Redman always believed. Sure, odd things happen in his childhood bedroom, but ultimately, he shrugged them off. Until he discovered that he wasn't alone, that everyone who lived thereafter him also had bizarre experiences they couldn't explain. And it gets even weirder. It just so happens that his wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door. Is this ghost somehow connected to her murder? He decides to go where no son-in-law should, digging up a cold case and asking questions that nobody wants answered. Like, could his wife's great-grandfather have gotten away with the perfect crime? This is a podcast about family secrets, overwhelming coincidence, and the things that come back to haunt us.
26:23 Speaker 05 For the best bingeable series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can get all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
26:38 Speaker 06 Alice, have you ever wondered why the Mini is so small?
26:42 Speaker 07 The skirt or the magnum?
26:44 Speaker 06 Well, I meant the iconic British car. Because in 1956, Britain's oil supply was suddenly cut off. Petrol rationing was brought in and the car industry was scrambling around for a vehicle that hardly used any fuel. Enter the Mini.
26:58 Speaker 07 Interesting, but actually not technically British Scandal series material.
27:03 Speaker 06 Well, the reason they had to save petrol is because the Prime Minister started a war and lied about why.
27:09 Speaker 07 Okay, scandal siren going off.
27:11 Speaker 06 I'm Matt Ford.
27:12 Speaker 07 And I'm Alice Levine.
27:13 Speaker 06 And our latest British Scandal series involves a secret meeting in a French villa, a Prime Minister running on amphetamines.
27:19 Speaker 07 An Egyptian president that everyone fancied, the end of the British Empire, and at the heart of it, a canal.
27:26 Speaker 06 This is the story of the Sewers Plot.
27:29 Speaker 07 Follow British Scandal wherever you get your podcasts, or listen early and ad-free on Audible.
27:49 Lindsay Graham? As the fire at the station nightclub continues to burn, the West Warwick Fire Department puts out a call for help to other departments around the state. And as more trucks arrive on the scene, they too are shocked by what they see. When one engine approaches, a throng of 50 survivors surround it. Many of them are obviously wounded. Some are bleeding and others are literally smoking in the cold air. To get them someplace warm and begin tending to their injuries, a police sergeant commandeers the restaurant across the street and turns it into a triage station. Back in the station's parking lot, survivors beg for help, both for themselves and their loved ones. One man grabs a police officer and tells him that his wife is still inside. He tells the officer they have three kids.
28:35 Lindsay Graham? He asks what he's going to do. The officer doesn't have an answer. The first responders work quickly to rescue as many people as they can. There's a pile of people just inside the main entrance. Many of the bodies are burning. Firefighters blast water at them to stop the flames, but some of the bodies are so badly burnt that it can be nearly impossible to tell if someone is dead or merely unconscious. Single mom Gina Galvin comes to as a blast of freezing water hits her in the face. And at first, she struggles to remember where she is. Then it comes back, the fire and the crush of people. She tries to get away from the stream of water, but her legs are still stuck. Water keeps hitting her in the face, choking her. But she realizes it must be from a fire hose.
29:20 Lindsay Graham? She waits for it to stop, for someone to come rescue her. But instead, the water keeps blasting, and it dawns on her that they must think she's dead. She yells out, "She's alive", hoping that someone will hear her over the rush of water. But her voice is hoarse, and it hurts to breathe. She fears that she's being left to die at the bottom of a pile of bodies. But she can't let that happen. Her kids need her. She musters all her energy and yells again that she's alive. And finally, the water stops as she hears a pair of heavy boots rush over to her. A fireman leans down and says he's going to get her out. Galvin almost weeps in gratitude. But even with the assistance of a colleague, the fireman cannot free Galvin.
30:03 Lindsay Graham? He says that they need to remove some of the weight from on top of her. He looks away, and Galvin realizes that he doesn't want to tell her what the weight on top of her is. She wonders just how many bodies there are. Galvin waits as they work. Without the water in her face, she can smell a meaty odor in the air. She retches as she realizes this must be the smell of burning flesh. She wonders if it's her own body burning. Then slowly, she feels less weight on top of her. And finally, the firefighters are able to pull her out. They lay her on the ground. The fireman then explains that he's sorry, but they need to hose her down again. They need to stop her burning and lower her temperature. As they gently spray her down,
30:46 Lindsay Graham? Galvin sees steam rising from her skin. Then she's transferred to a gurney. And as she's being loaded onto an ambulance, she asks the fireman if she's going to be okay, but he doesn't answer. Fear courses through Galvin's body. The firefighter's silence is the scariest response she could have imagined.
31:08 Lindsay Graham? Inside the restaurant across the street, fire captains Peter Genite and Leo Kennedy take charge of the triage operation. Their first priority is to identify victims who need the most urgent care and get them transported to the hospital as quickly as possible. They have packs of red, yellow, and green cards that they give to survivors depending on how severely they're injured. A red card means the patient is in critical condition. Yellow means they have serious wounds, while green indicates only mild injuries. But with so many people waiting to be seen and transported, they can't spend more than a few seconds determining what level of care each person needs. And in fires, it's not always obvious who is in the most danger.
31:50 Lindsay Graham? Survivors who are screaming in pain may be better off than those who look unharmed. If a patient is shouting, it means they haven't gone into shock. And if they're feeling pain, it means they haven't suffered third-degree burns, which destroy nerve endings. So instead, it's often the calmest patients who are the most at risk. Breathing in smoke can cause damage to the lungs and esophagus. Within 30 minutes of inhaling smoke, a person's airways can close up, and they can die, even if they were otherwise unburned. So Genite and Kennedy check people for singed nasal passages or seared facial hair, signs they may have inhaled smoke, hoping they don't miss anyone with hidden injuries. The work is taxing.
32:32 Lindsay Graham? Every time Genite sees someone with the worst burns he's ever seen, he then sees another person who looks worse. Over and over, he promises people he won't forget them, but there are so many victims, and he's only got a small crew. The scene inside the restaurant becomes even more surreal when cameraman Brian Butler's footage from inside the club makes it onto the news. On the restaurant's big-screen TV, images of the fire breaking out and spreading play over and over again. In all the chaos, no one thinks to turn the TV off. But throughout the night, quick thinking and quick actions likely save many lives. The owner of the restaurant provides food, water, and ice to victims and first responders.
33:14 Lindsay Graham? He opens up back rooms for rescue workers to use as a command center. Four registered nurses hear about the fire on the news and show up to help. Jenite and Kennedy put them to work starting IVs and dispensing morphine on-site. Thirty-four fire department ambulances and twenty-three private ambulances from around the state show up to transport victims. To prevent gridlock, police set up a staging area for them a block away, sending one at a time down to the restaurant when called. So despite the chaos and horrible injuries, it turns into a highly efficient operation. Together Jenite and Kennedy arrange for one hundred eighty-eight survivors to be transported to hospitals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. But despite all the rescue efforts, firefighters are still losing the battle with the inferno
33:59 Lindsay Graham? across the street. At around eleven-thirty, only about a half an hour after the concert began, one of the walls of the nightclub collapses, pelting firefighters with debris. Then, just ten minutes later, first responders determine that there are no survivors left inside the building. This is no longer a rescue operation, it's only an effort to recover bodies. To process the dead, the police call Jay Kingston, an investigator with the Medical Examiner's Office. They tell him that a fire has caused mass casualties, and based on what the dispatcher says, Kingston assumes there will be about twenty to thirty bodies. That's a lot to process, both physically and emotionally.
34:41 Lindsay Graham? So as Kingston drives to the station, he knows he's in for a long night. He pulls up to the scene around midnight. A firefighter meets him at the entrance to the parking lot and directs him to go around to the side. The building has almost entirely collapsed, and Kingston can't see the full extent of the damage because of all the emergency vehicles surrounding it. As Kingston parks his van, he sees a blue tarp laying over what are clearly dead bodies. He counts seven distinct mounds underneath the tarp, feels a small wave of relief. Seven bodies is far fewer than he thought. So he grabs his baggage supplies, including a camera, body bags, and a Sharpie, and then steps out of his van.
35:24 Lindsay Graham? Kingston walks slowly toward the tarp, careful not to slip on the ice. A firefighter meets him. We're still recovering mother bodies, but you can start with these. Just brace yourself for what you're gonna see. That bad? Yeah, it's pretty brutal. All right, well, get started. Kingston lifts up the tarp, revealing the bodies underneath. They're blackened and twisted, some hardly recognizable. Then Kingston stumbles back in shock. Oh, my God. Yeah, it's brutal. No, no, it's not that. I think I know this guy. Who? The man on the far left. We're friends from way back. I didn't know he was here tonight. Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to be insensitive, but it's hard to tell who anyone is. Hey, you're right. Hold on. I know how to check.
36:09 Lindsay Graham? Kingston leans down and rolls up one of the man's pant legs, which somehow didn't burn. Then he lets out a deep breath. It's not him. How can you tell? My friend has tattoos and this man doesn't. Working in a state this small, you always worry about finding a friend's body, you know? Yeah, I've been there. I answered a call at Buddy's house once. It was rough. So I'm glad this isn't your friend. Yeah, me too. But he was somebody's friend though, right?
36:38 Lindsay Graham? Kingston takes a few steps away to clear his head, and his gaze shifts over to the front of the club. He finds himself staring right at the main entrance, and any relief he felt about the scale of this tragedy is gone in an instant. Just behind the doorway, he sees more bodies, stacks of them. They're intertwined with each other, at least five deep. Firefighters are using ropes and rescue belts to try to separate the bodies that have fused together from the heat. And that's just the entryway. Who knows how many more are further inside? Kingston's mouth goes dry as he registers that there aren't 20 to 30 bodies at this scene. There are more than he can count.
37:21 Lindsay Graham? From Wondery, this is episode two of The Station Nightclub Fire for Americans Camp. In our next episode, survivors in the West Warwick community reckon with the scale of the tragedy. An investigator zero in on what may have caused the fire to spread so quickly. The installation of highly flammable, soundproofing foam.
37:44 Lindsay Graham? American Scandal is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American Scandal on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. And Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com.
38:18 Lindsay Graham? If you'd like to learn more about the fire at the station, we recommend the books Trial by Fire by Scott James, Killer Show by John Berilick, and From the Ashes by Gina Russo with Paul Lenardot. This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. American Scandal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Paraga. Sound design by Gabriel Ghul. Music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written by Austin Rakhless, edited by Emma Courtland. Fact checking by Alyssa Jung Perry. Produced by John Reed. Managing producer Joe Florentino. Senior producers Andy Beckerman and Andy Herman.
39:00 Lindsay Graham? Development by Stephanie Jens. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Peckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron O'Flaherty for Wondery.
39:16 Lindsay Graham? By 1779, Benedict Arnold had sacrificed more for the revolution than almost any other man in America. One of George Washington's most effective commanders, he had nearly lost a leg in the Second Battle of Saratoga. But in return, Arnold believed he had been humiliated by Congress and cheated of his glory by lesser men. So he decided to make them pay. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of the podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history: presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, Benedict Arnold Turns His Back on his comrades in the Continental Army and secretly defects to the British. With the help of his wife, he plots to hand over the most important colonial fortress
40:00 Lindsay Graham? to the enemy and doom the revolution he once served. Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.
Previous Station Nightclub Fire | Pyrotechnics | 1 Next Station Nightclub Fire | Lives Lost | 3 Page updated November 5, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated