Residents called to help as death toll mounted immediately after Station fire
(AP) -- Several residents who saw flames shooting from a burning nightclub or heard the ambulances and fire trucks racing to the scene offered help to rescue workers in the immediate hours after the deadly fire erupted, tapes released Monday show.
�If you all need any supplies or any assistance, if you just give us a call,� said one man from Coventry.
�My mom�s a nurse at Rhode Island hospital. She was wondering if you need anyone to go the scene of the fire,� says another on the recordings, released by Attorney General Patrick Lynch on Monday after a judge ordered that they be made public.
Callers�both private citizens and emergency workers from around the state�offered trucks, gloves, food and water to firefighters and police responding to what became the nation�s fourth deadliest nightclub fire. And as casualties mounted at The Station, the need for help became starkly clear. State and local officials have said the outpouring of assistance helped in the rescue effort.
�We�re taking (those injured) to the hospital in busloads,� a dispatcher tells a news reporter.
The tapes provide further insight into how events unfolded on Feb. 20, 2003, when fire, sparked by a band�s pyrotechnic display, ripped through The Station. The blaze killed 100 people and injured some 200 others.
Screams, shouting and sirens can be heard in the background of the recordings. Firefighters call in asking for backup; town agencies coordinate with the state on resources available.
�Oh God,� sighs one dispatcher, after hearing from the scene.
Many club patrons apparently became trapped in the building when they scrambled for the same exit.
Thirty-one bodies were recovered in the entryway of the club, the most found in any single area, according to a document also released Monday.
Two bodies were recovered from the women�s restroom and one was found in the men�s restroom, according to the document.
�Battalion One, I have a report of a female trapped in the female bathroom,� says one firefighter to another at the scene.
One person was recovered from the dance floor, near to where the fire started. The blaze erupted after sparks from a band�s pyrotechnics ignited highly flammable foam placed around the stage as soundproofing.
The fire spread quickly through the one-story wooden building and thick smoke blinded many patrons as they tried to escape.
�The bodies are curled up�there�s not much left to them,� says a rescue worker in one transmission.
A judge ordered the release of about four hours of tape, and the one-page document, in response to a lawsuit filed by The Providence Journal seeking more information about what happened at The Station.
Last November, the attorney general released about 270 phone calls and audio transmissions, or 31/2 hours of recordings, between police, firefighters, and other first responders.
Some victims� family members have opposed the tapes� release, saying they shouldn�t have to relive the events.
�I have no interest listening to them,� said David Kane, whose 18-year-old son Nicholas O�Neill died in the blaze. �But I think people should be able to have all of the information they can to understand what happened.�
According to the attorney general�s office, some family members had requested copies of the newly released tapes.
None of the transmissions include calls to the 911 dispatch center or calls from family members, victims or close friends. The transmissions have been edited to delete addresses, names and phone numbers.
The club�s owners and the band�s former tour manager were indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges. They have pleaded innocent. Several lawsuits have been filed stemming from the blaze.
The attorney general�s office was hesitant to discuss the tapes and map of where bodies were recovered because of the criminal cases. A judge has asked all sides to not comment.
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