Station Nightclub Fire | Lives Lost | 3
American Scandal
Wondery
4.6 • 18.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After learning about the fire, the community of West Warwick is horrified at the devastation the tragedy caused. Victims and their families demand answers, and soon Rhode Island’s Attorney General launches a grand jury investigation to find out not only how the fire spread so quickly, but who is responsible.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Lindsay Graham, host of American Scandal. |
| 0:03.1 | Our Back catalog has moved behind a paywall. |
| 0:05.9 | Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a Wondry Plus subscription. |
| 0:10.6 | With Wondry Plus, you get access to the full American Scandal archive, add free, plus early access to new seasons, and more. |
| 0:17.7 | Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:35.6 | Thank you. and more. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's a little after 1 a.m. on Friday, February 21st, 2003 in West Warwick, Rhode Island. |
| 0:42.3 | Firefighter Roger St. Jean stands in front of a canteen truck, waiting for his turn to order a cup of coffee. |
| 0:48.4 | He shuffles forward with the other first responders in line still dazed by what he's just experienced. |
| 0:56.5 | Only two hours ago, St. Jean and his team were called out to help put out the station nightclub fire, but they quickly realized |
| 1:01.1 | there was no controlling it. The fire burned so hot and so fast that even with hundreds of firefighters |
| 1:06.7 | on site to help, the fight was over before it ever really began. Now the fire has officially |
| 1:12.1 | been called and the flames are no longer burning, and all that's left of the nightclub is rubble, |
| 1:17.2 | broken bottles, and bodies. St. Jean glances back at the smoldering wreckage. Even though the |
| 1:23.9 | firefighters from his department have been relieved of duty, other rescue workers are still trying to recover what remains of the people who didn't make it out. |
| 1:32.3 | St. Jean assumes they'll be working throughout the night. |
| 1:35.3 | As the line ahead, inches forward, St. Jean tries to ground himself in the present, |
| 1:40.1 | focusing on the feeling of the icy asphalt under his boots and the crunch it makes with each step. |
| 1:45.7 | But no matter where he looks, he's haunted by the image of the nightclub doorway when he first arrived. |
| 1:51.3 | There was a pile of bodies blocking the entry, people who were just inches away from escaping the blaze but didn't make it. |
| 2:02.3 | St. Jean becomes vaguely aware of someone calling his name. |
| 2:07.3 | He looks up and sees his partner, Aaron Perkins, standing in front of him. |
| 2:11.0 | His eyebrows raised as if he's asking a question. |
... |
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