American Scandal - Station Nightclub Fire | No Exit | 2

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

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.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to American Scandal on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-scandal/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, this is Lindsey Graham, host of American Scandal. Our back catalog has moved behind a paywall. Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a Wondery Plus subscription. With Wondery Plus, you get access to the full American Scandal archive, ad-free, plus early access to new seasons and more. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or 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

Crisostomy is inside the station nightclub, standing just a few feet from stage. He has one arm wrapped around his fiancée, 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 80s metal band Great White live on stage.

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. 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 raise 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 fiance's shoulders, directing her to the closest exit, a door just to the right of the stage, only a few feet away. But as Chris Ostomy and Russo approach 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. 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 past. 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 are 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 a hundred feet away, but the club is starting to fill up with smoke and screaming. In the past decade, Boeing has been involved in a series of scandals and deadly crashes that have dented its once sterling reputation. At the center of it all, the 737 MAX. The latest season of Business Wars explores how Boeing allowed things to turn deadly and what, if anything, can save the company's reputation.

Make sure to listen to Business Wars, wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal. In early 2000, Michael and Jeffrey Durdarian 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 80s 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. This is Episode 2, No Exit. It's just after 11 p.m. 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, near the door, or back home, safe with her kids. Galvin looks around frantically, wondering if there's any other doors 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. 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.

Fred Crisostomy and his fiancée 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. Crisostomy 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 Sanetti ushers his wife toward the emergency exit behind the bar. When the fire broke out, Sanetti

and his wife were standing near the back of the club, and within seconds of seeing the flames, Sanetti realized something was wrong. 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 30 or 40 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. Seneti 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, Seneti 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. Seneti 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. Snetty 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. He shouts Bridget's name, but all he can hear back is wailing and screams. A woman reaches her hand through the window, and Seneti grabs it and helps pull her through. As she emerges, Seneti 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. Seneti 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. Seneti's eyes and skin are starting to sting. His throat burns, but he won't stop until he finds Bridget. He continues yelling her name into the window and pulling people out, but soon the flow

of people gets slower. Sanetti sees a young man crawl toward the window. He barely looks old enough to be in the barn. Sanetti reaches out his hand and beckons for the young man to grab it. The kid extends his arm and Sanetti 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, Seneti 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.

clump. He doesn't know what it is until it suddenly hits him. It's the kid's burnt skin. Seneti has pulled it right off. Still he rushes forward to look for the young man, but he's fallen out of sight. Fighting through the smoke and heat, Seneti 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. But even as the smoke grows only thicker, the screams are dying out. Minutes after the blaze erupted, at 1110 PM, the bell goes off at West Warwick Firehouse Number 4. 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. Gene 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 siren 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. Gene is stunned by what he sees. 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. Gene 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 snow banks desperately trying to relieve their burns. Perkins brings the truck to a halt less than a hundred feet from the door where people are

still trying to get out. If St. Gene and his team are going to save anyone who's still inside, they need to work quickly. Anyone who's still inside, they need to work quickly. So St. Gene jumps off the truck and begins pulling out a hose, while Perkins takes up his position by the pump. St. Gene yells back, going over the plan of the attack. I'm going to start by hosing above the door. We got to 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. Gene 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. 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. Gene looks over his shoulder at the raging fire behind him. Okay, you're right. This thing's burning too fast. We're just going to have to risk it. Lieutenant St. Gene 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 going to 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. He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood walk of. Did he built an empire and live the life most people only dream about everybody know a no party like a did he party so yeah, but just as quickly as his empire rose it came crashing down. Today, I'm announcing the unsealing of a 3 count But just as quickly as his empire rose it came crashing down today

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listen to the rise and fall of getting exclusively with wonder plus. I'm Jake Warren in our first season of finding set out on a very personal quest to find the woman who saved my mom's life you You can listen to Finding Natasha right now exclusively on Wandery+. In season 2, I found myself caught up in a new journey to help someone I've never even met. But a couple of years ago, I came across a social media post by a person named Loti. It read in part Three years ago today that I attempted to jump off this bridge, but this wasn't my time to go. A gentleman named Andy saved my life.

I still haven't found him. This is a story that I came across purely by chance, but it instantly moved me, and it's taken me to a place where I've had to consider some deeper issues around mental health. This is season two of Finding, and this time, if all goes to plan, we'll be finding Andy. You can listen to Finding Andy and Finding Natasha exclusively and ad free on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. 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 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 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 Govan, Gina Russo and her fiance Fred Crisostomy have reached the ticket booth right where the narrow corridor to the entry begins, but then the wave of

people that caught Govan 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 Chry Chrisostomy 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. 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. It 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. Outside the station nightclub, the scene is chaotic. Around 11.15 pm, some ten 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. 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.

Beakley managed to exit through the stage door, and most of the band members followed. Now he's wracked 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 cell phone 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 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 Durdarian, 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. 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 Durdarian paces

nervously back and forth across the parking lot. Ased in flames, while his colleague Jeffrey Terdarian 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, passing it off to someone with the 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. 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 cell phone. The man stares blankly and then, like he's in a trance, holds out his phone. Jeffrey grabs it. His hand shaking, he dials his brother's number. Thankfully,

Michael picks up after only the first rap. Hello? Michael, the club's on fire. Who is this? Mike, it's me, Jeffrey, your brother. What? Whose phone is this? The club is on fire. What do you mean the club's on fire?

The club is on fire. It was the fireworks. I don't know, something went wrong. The whole thing is on fire. Is the fire department there? Yeah, they're here. So it's under control? Jeffrey, what's going on? Is the fire department there? Yeah, they're here. So it's under control? Jeffrey, what's going on? Is the fire out? 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. Jeff, Jeffrey, wait, just tell me what's happening.

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 going to be the same again. Not for him, not for Michael, not for anyone who is in the club tonight. It's 1998, and petty thief Daniel Blanchard is about to carry out the heist of a lifetime, stealing a crown jewel, the last remaining Cece star. He just saw it and he said, I just knew I had to have it. His plan?

A daring nighttime parachute jump. This guy was just like a James Bond. And Daniel knows that if he can get his hands on the star, it will launch him into the criminal big leagues. If you can't be famous, some people say it's good to be infamous. Daniel's exploits unleash a relentless game of cat and mouse as police track him across continents. Time and again he vanishes from their grasp.

I think he felt invincible. But how long can CC Star stay lucky for Daniel? From Curious Cast and Blanchard House, this is a most audacious heist. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or most audacious heist. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's a most audacious heist. On January 5th, 2024, an Alaska Airlines door plug tore away mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of a plane that carried 171 passengers. This heart-stopping incident was just the latest in a string of crises surrounding the

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the decisions, denials, and devastating consequences bringing the Titan to its knees, and what, if anything, can save the company's reputation. Now follow Business Wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge Business Wars The Unraveling of Boeing early and ad free right now on Wondery Plus. 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. 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, and 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 too 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. 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. 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. 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 wretches 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, 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. response she could have imagined. Inside the restaurant across the street, fire captains Peter Jinnight 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. Survivors who are screaming and paying 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 Janait 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. Every time Janait 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. 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. Janite and Kennedy put them

to work starting IVs and dispensing morphine on site. 34 fire department ambulances and 23 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, J'Night and Kennedy arrange for 188 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

across the street. At around 11.30, only about a half an hour after the concert began, one of the walls of the nightclub collapses, pelting firefighters with debris. Then, just 10 minutes later, first responders determined 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 20 to 30 bodies. That's a lot to process, both physically and emotionally.

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 and feels a small wave of relief. Seven bodies is far fewer than he thought. So he grabs his bag of supplies including a camera, body

bags, and a Sharpie and then steps out of his van. 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. Alright, 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. 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. And me too.

But he was somebody's friend though, right? 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. 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. From Wander E, this is Episode 2 of the Station Nightclub Fire for Americans Scam. In our next episode, survivors and the West Warwick community reckon with the scale of the tragedy, and investigators zero in on what may have caused the fire to spread so quickly, the installation of

highly flammable soundproofing foam. If you're enjoying American Scandal, you can unlock exclusive seasons on Wondery+. Binge new seasons first and listen completely ad-free when you join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a survey at Wondery.com slash survey. 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 Berylick, and From the Ashes by Gina Russo with Paul Lennardo. 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, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Peraga. Sound design by Gabriel Gould. Music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written by Austin Rackless. Edited by Emma Corder. Fact-checking by Alyssa Jung Perry. Produced by John Reed. Managing producer Joe Florentino. Senior producers Andy Beckerman and Andy Herman. Development by Stephanie Jens. Executive Producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Lewy, and Erin O'Flaherty for Wondering.