Though the 20th anniversary of the deadly Station Nightclub fire was in February, family, friends and survivors gathered Sunday to remember.
Knowing how difficult it is for some to attend a ceremony in February, Station Fire Memorial Foundation officials decided a spring service would be better. They selected May 21, WPRI reported.
The Station Fire Memorial Park opened at the site where the club once stood on May 21 2017. During the ceremony, a new memorial plaque was unveiled.
“We really weren’t friends before. We didn’t know each other, and now we’re just here for each other all the time,” Gina Russo, foundation president, told the crowd.
Twenty years ago, a crowd was enjoying a band in the Station Nightclub when fireworks ignited the sound-proofing foam on the walls, causing an inferno. Panic set in as the crowd scrambled in the dark, choking from the thick toxic smoke to find a way out.
In the end, 100 didn't make it out. Another 200 were injured.
