Club Fire Tragedy
Six Months later, victims and families remember those injured and lost in the nightclub fire
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(West Warwick-AP) - Several survivors of The Station nightclub fire and family members of victims made a pilgrimage to the disaster site Wednesday to remember the 100 people who perished in the blaze six months ago.
Since the fire, the site of the tragedy has been transformed into a makeshift memorial. More than 100 small wooden crosses circle the perimeter of where the club once stood.
``I feel bad for so many people. West Warwick is such a small community,'' said Frank Snow, who said he went to the site to pay his respects to victims. ``It's just so tragic.''
The fire was started when a band's pyrotechnic display ignited highly flammable foam that was used as soundproofing around the club's stage.
Many visitors on Wednesday called the land ``sacred ground'' and hope that one day it becomes a permanent memorial to the victims.
Currently, family members maintain the site.
Fresh flowers, photographs, letters and poems rest by the crosses, each labeled for one of the dead.
``It's unbelievable it happened, it should never have happened,'' said Michael Lannigan, 33, of West Warwick.
Lannigan didn't know anyone who died in the fire but he said he's been to the site about five times since the Feb. 20 fire.
``I drive by and there's always somebody there,'' he said.
Services at the site and a nearby YMCA were planned for Wednesday evening.
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