Opinion: Former GREAT WHITE Tour Manager Was Unfairly Blamed For Deadly Nightclub Fire

Richard Patton, President of the Citrus Heights, California-based organization Crusade Against Fire Deaths, Inc. (web site),has issued a lengthy statement/press release arguing that former GREAT WHITE tour manager Daniel Biechele is being unfairly blamed for the deaths of 100 concert-goers as a result of the February 20, 2003 fire in the Station Nightclub in Rhode Island, which was initiated by a pyrotechnic display as part of the band’s routine. An excerpt from his press release follows:

"On February 20, 2003 a fire started in the Station Nightclub in Rhode Island. It was initiated by a pyrotechnic display as part of the band's routine. The result was 100 deaths and many injuries. The basic cause of the deaths was the installation of highly combustible sheathing on the walls and ceiling near the stage area. Now the manager of the band apparently will be given jail time because presumably he authorized the pyrotechnic display. However, it was the existence of highly combustible sheathing in the vicinity that was the fundamental cause of the deaths. Putting the blame on the band manager was a strategy to shift the blame from those who were most responsible, the fire department officials, including those from the office of the State Fire Marshal. Why the fire officials were most responsible for this tragedy is explained below.

"The foam plastic sheathing on the ceiling and walls near the stage had an extremely high flame spread rating and obviously was easily ignited. Highly flammable construction material should never be allowed in a place of assembly where many lives would be at risk. It was guaranteed to 'burn like hell' once ignited. When material of this nature starts to burn it flashes so quickly, and creates such fast killing fumes and blinding smoke, that there is very little time to escape. With the flames virtually exploding and the acrid smoke spreading fast, panic was assured. Only those who could quickly reach the exits were likely to survive. Highly combustible sheathing has been prohibited within buildings (and especially places of assembly) for decades, going back to at least the Cocoanut Grove Supper Club fire of 1942 where 492 died. Who are the 'fire experts' who presumably have been educated to know that wall sheathing that flashes is not allowed within virtually any building, but especially not in a place of assembly? I believe you call them the fire chiefs, not the band managers. The pyrotechnic display that ignited that super fast burning material, if properly used within a normal building probably would have been quite safe and no menace to the guests."

Read the rest of the statement/press release at this location.