Welcome to the LOUDEST DOT COM ON THE PLANET!
KNAC.COM News Reviews and More Watch The Latest Videos Buy KNAC T-shirts and More


Employee Warned R.I. Club of Pyro Use

By Rob Jones, Founder
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 @ 1:41 PM


"I told him: Stage manager

- advertisement -
From the Boston Herald

by Tom Mashberg
Tuesday, February 25, 2003

The sound engineer/stage manager of The Station nightclub, who barely escaped Thursday's inferno with his life, said yesterday he warned co-owner Michael Derderian three months ago that unfamiliar band personnel were setting off risky pyrotechnics at his club.

``I told Mike I was having serious problems with this stuff,'' said Paul M. Vanner, 41, of East Providence, R.I. ``I said, `They're lighting fires up on your stage and I don't know these guys from (bleep).' '' Vanner, a crucial witness in the investigation of the deadly blaze, has already told his story to Rhode Island law enforcement officials.

He spoke to the Herald yesterday after consulting with a local attorney, Ronald J. Resmini, saying, ``It's all about keeping this from ever happening again.''

Vanner said two other Station employees - the bar's manager, identified as Kevin Beazie, and the lighting technician, who goes by ``Scooter'' - were also in on the meeting with Derderian and would corroborate the prophetic warning.

Vanner said he brought up the issue after a night in which a heavy-metal tribute band used stage flames in a way that struck Vanner, the son of a retired building inspector, as dangerous.

``I'm paid good money to a do a professional job,'' said Vanner, who was hired full time by club co-owners Michael and Jeffrey A. Derderian in April 2000, a month after the pair took over The Station. ``And one of the things that I was anal about was safety.''

Vanner said Michael Derderian appeared to take his warnings to heart, and no bands that featured pyrotechnic displays were booked into The Station in the three or so months after their conversation.

``After we met, they stopped booking the pyro bands,'' he said. ``They never told me there was a change of policy or anything, but the bands just weren't booked.''

Vanner said the first he knew of pyrotechnics last Thursday ``was when they went off as the show (by band Great White) started.''

But he said he recalls pyrotechnic displays of various kinds being used on stage at The Station at least a dozen times after the Derderians purchased it. And he said there was no way the two owners could have been blind to their use.

``When you hire a KISS tribute band, pyro is part of the show,'' he said. ``I never approved it myself. I was in no position to make that decision. It just wasn't my call.''

The Derderian's attorney did not return calls seeking comment.

The West Warwick town clerk, David D. Clayton, told the Herald Friday that ``at no time in the past 10 years or so'' were permits for indoor pyrotechnic use sought by The Station or any other venue.

Town and state laws require such permits, and in West Warwick, any venue hoping to use indoor pyrotechnics must post a $1 million bond per event and have fire professionals on the premises.

Vanner said the soundproofing material that fueled the deadly nightclub inferno was installed ``approximately 18 months ago.''

He said pyro was set off at The Station ``at least three times'' between the date of the installation and last Thursday's calamity.

``There were little flashpots and there were these sparkler things,'' he said. ``I'm a sound guy. I don't really know a lot about it.''

He also said the polyurethane foam that caught fire was present at the club both times a West Warwick fire inspector visited the premises to approve it late last year. He said the tiles were installed with a spray adhesive that makes them difficult to remove.

Rhode Island law requires that acoustical material be fully fireproof and that inspectors test it if they find it present in a venue.

Denis Larocque, the West Warwick Fire Department inspector who approved The Station in December, made no mention of the foam when he cited the club for minor violations a month earlier.

Larocque did not return calls placed to his home. Battalion Chief Wayne Willett declined comment on Larocque's inspection report.

``I know you guys have a job to do but right now we're not making any statement,'' Willet said.

Vanner said the tiles were installed not long after the Derderians spent $65,000 to upgrade The Station's sound system. The club generated so much noise, he said, that neighbors began complaining and town officials insisted that they install acoustic baffling.

Vanner said Great White arrived at The Station with only a road manager and a sound man. He said he has no idea who placed the pyro canisters on the stage.

``I'm heartbroken I didn't know this was up there,'' he said. ``These guys are in and out of the club before you know it. Clearly their main concern was not with my club.

``I think these guys from Great White have a lot to answer for,'' he said.

Vanner was numbed and exhausted yesterday by the agony of recent days - including the loss of close friends. He spoke with haunted eyes of the tumultuous scene inside The Station and how he rushed for a fire extinguisher, only to watch the flames above his head ``spread at a geometric rate.''

``If you hesitated for even a moment - if you made the mistake of thinking it was maybe part of the show - you were lost,'' he said.

``I could see by the way the soundproofing was going up that it was `out now' or else,'' he said. ``The speed was incredible. That fire was doubling in size about every three seconds.''

Vanner was stationed at the left of the stage in a sound cubby when Great White's display went off.

``I knew right away we were in very bad shape,'' he said.

He said he rushed for a fire extinguisher mounted underneath a separate sound station in the middle of the dance floor, some 35 feet away.

When he turned back to the fire, he said, the situation was hopeless.

``This was way beyond fire extinguisher help,'' he said. ``I just screamed to the faces around me, `Get out now!' ''

Outside, Vanner said, ``was a scene of horror only Stephen King could imagine.''

Robin Washington and Eric Convey contributed to this report.


Back to Top

 

 

 Recent News
Official, Special, Limited Edition, KNAC Heritage Item On Sale Now!
BREAKING: SKID ROW, ERIK GRONWALL Amicably Part Ways
YES Unveil Talk 30th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set Edition
SAUL Release "More Of The Same" With New Video
RON KEEL BAND Drops New Single, "Hard On The Outside (Heart On The Inside)"
TROLLFEST Release 20 Years In The Wrong Lane Compilation Album
THE BLACK MOODS Share New Single, Video For "Heaven"
DAUGHTRY Shares New Single "Pieces"
WEEDEATER Announce Spring US Tour
WAGE WAR Unleash "Magnetic" Video
PUSCIFER, A PERFECT CIRCLE, PRIMUS Announce The Sessanta E.P.P.P.
KUARANTINE, Featuring CHRIS JERICHO, Drop New KISS Cover Of "Good Girl Gone Bad"
BILLY MORRISON, STEVE STEVENS, OZZY OSBOURNE Join Forces For New Track, "Crack Cocaine"
VISIONS OF ATLANTIS Ready New Album, Pirates II - Armada
HIGH ON FIRE Announces U.S. Headlining Tour Dates
SIX BY SIX (Featuring IAN CREICHTON, NIGEL GLOCKLER & ROBERT BERRY) Launch New Video For "Obiliex"
Bay Area Legends FORBIDDEN Announce First Annual OmegAfest
THE MELVINS Stream New Track "Allergic To Food"
HATEBREED Announce 30th Anniversary North American Headline Tour
SONIC UNIVERSE, Featuring COREY GLOVER (LIVING COLOUR) + MIKE ORLANDO (ADRENALINE MOB), Release Video For "Higher"
UNLEASH THE ARCHERS Drop "Ghosts In The Mist" Performance Video
KANSAS Extends Their 50th Anniversary Tour By Adding Third Leg
MOB RULES Release Cover Of IRON MAIDEN's "Run To The Hills"
A DAY TO REMEMBER Announce Summer 2024 'The Least Anticipated Album Tour'
MY DYING BRIDE Share "The 2nd of Three Bells" Video
PENTAGRAM Announces Three U.S. Performances
ABORTED Unleash "Condemned To Rot (feat. Francesco Paoli)" Video
THE DEAD DAISIES Announce U.S. Dates, New Drummer
SCOTT STAPP Drops Duet Video With DOROTHY For "If These Walls Could Talk"
NEW HORIZON Unveils New Album Conquerors
LIVING DEAD GIRL Share New Single "Ugly"
DRAGONFORCE Unleash New Video "Burning Heart"
NORTHLANE Announce Summer 2024 North American Headline Tour
JOE SATRIANI, STEVE VAI To Release New Music Together For The First Time
MANIC EDEN Self-Titled Album Set For Re-Release, Available On Vinyl For First Time
COMBUSTION 96 Premieres "On the Line" Video
SEBASTIAN BACH Reveals New Album Child Within The Man
MESSER Drops New Video For "Throw it Away"
DARKTHRONE Ready New Album It Beckons Us All
VENDED Reveal New Single/Video, "The Far Side"
SIX FEET UNDER Return With New Album Killing For Revenge
SLASH Announces S.E.R P.E.N.T. Festival-Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N' Tolerance
THE TREATMENT Unveil New Album Wake Up The Neighbourhood
LEE AARON Reveals First Video From Covers Album For "Tattoo"
EVILDEAD Ready New Album Toxic Grace
MARKO HIETALA, TARJA TURUNEN Join For Duet Single, Video "Left On Mars"
CRYSTAL VIPER Return With New Album The Silver Key
BLUE OYSTER CULT Share New Video For "Don't Come Running To Me"
DARKEST HOUR Unveil 'Perpetual | Terminale' Beer Collaboration With DC Brau
Stadium Rockers KISSIN' DYNAMITE Are Back With A Bang With New Album
VESPERIAN SORROW Share New Song, "They Beheld The Chainbreaker's Crowning Defiance"
Guitar Virtuoso MARTY FRIEDMAN Announces New Album Drama
VEXED Releases Official Video For "It's Not The End"
Rock Supergroup BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION Reveal New Album V
SOIL Announce European Festival, Headline Tour
French Metal Pioneers NIGHTMARE Return With New Album, Encrypted
BARONESS To Take 'Sweet Oblivion Tour' To Europe
SLASH Set For Sixth Solo Album, A Blues-Infused Orgy Of The Damned
TYR Gets "Hammered" In New Music Video, Single
PAIN Reveal New Album I Am
KURT DEIMER Unveils New Video For "Dance"
MOB RULES Set To Release Compilation Album, Celebration Day - 30 Years Of Mob Rules
ROCK THE LOCKS Music Festival Announces 2024 Band Lineup
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Announce Summer Headlining U.S. Tour
STORMBORN Unleashes New Video For "Serpentine"
THE WARNING Ready New Album Keep Me Fed
CKY Announce Spring 2024 Headline Tour
SETYOURSAILS Shares New Video For "Lately"
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE Returns With New Single "Pendulum"
KICKIN VALENTINA Launch New Single For "Ride Or Die"
INTERVALS Set For New Album Memory Palace
THE NATIVE HOWL Release New Single, Video For "Mercy" Featuring LZZY HALE
SEVEN SPIRES Return With New Album, A Fortress Called Home
PRONG Honor RUSH With Cover Of "Working Man"
LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES Return With New Studio Album The Cycles Of Trying To Cope
ALPHA WOLF Share New Video For "Whenever You're Ready"
JINJER Announces First Official Live DVD/Blu-Ray, Live In Los Angeles
KK'S PRIEST Unleash "Keeper Of The Graves" Video
CROWNSHIFT Drop New Video For "A World Beyond Reach"
THE GEMS Share New Video For "Queens"
DARK TRANQUILLITY Unveil New Album Endtime Signals
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Return To Europe For First Time Since 2019
DANKO JONES Shares Previously Unreleased Electric Sounds Bonus Track, "Waiting For You" Titled "Waiting For You"
BLIND CHANNEL Drop New Album Exit Emotions
BARONESS, RED FANG Unite For First-Ever Joint U.S. Tour Dates
ANGELS OF BABYLON Release 3rd Album Aquarius
ECLIPSE Unleashes New Video For "Apocalypse Blues"
BLACKTOP MOJO Return New Single "As The Light Fades"
AXEL RUDI PELL Unveils New Album Risen Symbol
I PREVAIL, HALESTORM Join For 2024 Summer Co-Headline Tour
BURNING WITCHES Honor OZZY Osbourne With Video For Cover Of "Shot In The Dark"
RAGE Share New Single "Cold Desire"
RHAPSODY OF FIRE Ready New Album Challenge The Wind
MILWAUKEE METAL FEST 2024 Adds DORO, ROSS THE BOSS And ATHEIST To Lineup
ATTILA Unleash New Single For "Timebomb"
CAPULET FEST Reveal Intital Bands For 2024 Edition
JUDAS PRIEST Set For Global Album Listening Parties For Invincible Shield
ARCHSPIRE Announce 2024 North American 'The Everything's F#*!@D Tour'
LORDS OF SALEM Release New Single "Eternal Love"
SEBASTIAN BACH Announces 2024 "What Do I Got To Lose Tour"
WHOM GODS DESTROY Launch New Single, Video For "Crawl"
2024 ROCK FOR RONNIE Benefit Concert Announced
SOIL Announce 2024 UK Headline Tour
ACCEPT Share New Album Title Track Video For "Humanoid"
DEF LEPPARD Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of Pyromania With Deluxe Expanded Edition
ABBATH Announces First North American Tour In Five Years
WHITECROSS Return With New Album Fear No Evil
SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL Unleash Brutal New Video For "Conflict"
AS I LAY DYING Announce U.S. Summer 2024 Tour
FROM ASHES TO NEW Announce U.S. Headline "The Blackout Tour Pt. 2"
DEATH DEALER UNION Drops "Beyond Heaven" Video
ULI JON ROTH Returns To North America This Spring For Tour
HELL'S HEROES FESTIVAL Announces Daily Schedules, Set Times For 2024
P.O.D. Announce 2024 Headline "I Got That" Tour
APOCALYPTICA Announce New METALLICA Tribute Album, Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Vol. 2
THE ARSON CHOIR Drop "Ravenous" New Video
FREEDOM CALL Unveil New Album Silver Romance
NONPOINT Announces 'The Million Watts Tour 2024'
DIRTY HONEY Releases New Video For "Coming Home (Ballad Of The Shire)"
IMMINENCE Reveal New Album The Black
AFTERSHOCK Festival Reveals 2024 Band Lineups
AMARANTHE Release New Album Title Track Video For "The Catalyst"
KILLINGTON PIT Share JUDAS PRIEST Cover Video For "Riding On The Wind"
AUGUST BURNS RED Announce 2024 'Spring Fling' Tour
Former NIGHTWISH Vocalist ANETTE OLZON Announces Third Solo Album Rapture
JUDAS PRIEST Stream New Track "The Serpent And The King"
PRAYING MANTIS Return With New Album Defiance
DEICIDE Announced As A Headliner For Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest
SHIPROCKED Sets Dates For 2025 Cruise
EXHUMED Guitarist MATT HARVEY Releases New Solo EP Toward The Cold Light
ACE FREHLEY Drops New Video For "Cherry Medicine"
VANDEN PLAS Unveil New Album Details For The Empyrean Equation Of The Long Lost Things
GATECREEPER Launch Video For "Caught In The Treads"
HIGH ON FIRE Ready New Album Cometh The Storm
ROTTING CHRIST Release "Like Father, Like Son" Video
IAN HUNTER Returns With Defiance Part 2: Fiction Album
VENREZ Drop New Video For "Sip The Cup"
TESLA Set To Release Real To Reel Vol I Album As Double LP For Record Store Day
BOUNDARIES Announce U.S. Headline Tour Dates
Symphonic Metal Diva LEAH Releases New Album The Glory And The Fallen
SAUL Announce Spring 2024 Headline Tour Dates
THE ELECTRIC HIGHWAY FESTIVAL Announces 2024 Lineup
APOGEAN Launches Music Video For "Bluelight Sonata"
MAD WITH POWER VII Festival Reveals Final 2024 Band Lineup
1349 Announce North American Tour
BLOODBOUND Announce Anniversary Live Album, Blu-Ray, The Tales of Nosferatu - Two Decades of Blood (2004 - 2024)
ABORTED Unleash "Dreadbringer (Feat. Ben Duerr)" Visualizer Video
Guitarist STEVE CONTE (NEW YORK DOLLS, MICHAEL MONROE) Readies New Album The Concrete Jangle
SUICIDAL ANGELS Stream New Single "Virtues Of Destruction"
PIG DESTROYER Announce April East Coast Headline Run
BLAZE BAYLEY Releases "Mind Reader" Video
SUPAFLY, Featuring RAY WEST Of SPREAD EAGLE, Announce Record Release Party
CLASSLESS ACT Release "Toxic" BRITNEY SPEARS Cover Video
KAMELOT Continues The 'Awaken The World Tour' 2024 In Europe This October
DRAGONFORCE Share TAYLOR SWIFT Cover Video Of "Wildest Dreams"
LOUDER THAN LIFE Festival Celebrates 10 Years With The Return Of SLAYER!



HOME | MAGAZINE | VIDS | STORE | HELP/POLICIES

©2024 KNAC.COM. All Rights Reserved.    Link to us    Advertise with us    Privacy policy
 Latest News