Survivors and family members of victims of the Station nightclub fire gathered at a park established as a memorial on Saturday to remember the loved ones they lost.
The band Great White was performing at the Rhode Island venue on Feb. 20, 2003 when a band manager set off fireworks, which sparked flammable material in the walls, The nightclub went up in flames within minutes, killing 100 people.
Tracy King was working as a bouncer at the club that night and survivors told him his brother Jody pulled several people out of the burning building, but didn’t make it out himself.
“What a great brother I had,” Tracy King said. “He threw my wife out, my brother, a cousin, a girlfriend. What a hero he was.”
Gina Russo and her fiancee were also at the club, and he died in the blaze. Russo managed to escape but was in a coma for 10 weeks, and is now president of the Station Fire Memorial Foundation.
She and King helped create the Station Memorial Park in 2017 and visit every year on the anniversary of the fire.
“The healing process has been quite a struggle along the way. I can’t believe it’s been 18 years,” Russo said. “We are grateful people have not forgotten. The community is still embracing us and still coming to visit the park.”
“This is one of the most beautiful parks,” Tracy King said. “We wanted to make sure no one forgot and everyone remembered.”
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