I had a flashback this morning after reading this;
Sparklers on champagne bottles likely cause of deadly Swiss bar fire. A fire at a bar in a Swiss ski resort appears to have been caused by sparklers placed on bottles of champagne that came “too close to the ceiling”, authorities said.
In 2003 I was in a club fire in Minneapolis started by pyrotechnics;
In February 2003, the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis experienced a pyrotechnic-caused fire, similar to the deadly Station nightclub fire, but with drastically different outcomes: all 120 patrons escaped safely due to an automatic sprinkler system and trained staff, highlighting effective fire safety measures versus the tragedy in Rhode Island where 100 died due to flammable foam and lack of sprinklers. The Minneapolis incident serves as a key comparison, showing how proper fire suppression and procedures prevent disaster, even when a fire starts from the same cause.
The fire occurred ONE week before this infamous club fire;
On the evening of February 20, 2003, a fire occurred at The Station, a nightclub and music venue 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 remains the deadliest firework 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.
First off, I am still bitter about the idiot that set off the pyro at the Minneapolis show. It was the final night of my Rock & Roll weekend. I saw the Pretenders on Friday Night at the State, the Donnas at the Quest on Saturday and was looking forward to seeing Link Wray Sunday night at the Fine Line, but he never went on 🙁 I never did get to see him before he passed just 2 years later. Still a little pissed about not seeing the man who invented electric guitar distortion.
Fortunately in my case, the sprinkler system did kick in, but NOT until everyone was out of the building because when I was running across the dance floor I looked up and the entire ceiling was on fire (just like the Swiss fire, the insulation caught on fire.) Ever since then when I go to a club I am unfamiliar with, I find ALL exits and always note the closest one to the stage. Believe it or not, it can get you out of other scary situations like slam dancing gone awry (that’s only happened to me once 🙂 I spent the rest of the show in the back alley.
I often tell folks when going to a sold-out club show, find all exits first, because I never want to leave a club show again with the ceiling on fire. I still remember the bartender yelling as we are running towards the door ‘RUNNNNNNNNNNN!’ I’m thinking, ‘No Sh!t Sherlock.’
My prayers go out to these folks, but please, learn from a tragedy.