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A listener note,

this episode contains graphic details and may not be suitable for a younger audience. From Wondery, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scandal. For hard, For hard-out-out-out-out.

For hard rock fans in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the evening of February 20, 2003, should have been just another fun night out.

The 80s metal band Great White had just taken the

stage behind a wall of pyrotechnics ignited by their tour manager. Lead singer Jack Russell

sang the opening lines of their first song, then stopped when he saw flames creeping up the walls

of the club. At first, the club patrons thought the flames were planned, until it became clear that they

were not, and the fire was out of control. Black smoke spread quickly as people fought to get

out, and a hundred would lose their lives in the flames. Federal journalist Scott James

grew up in Rhode Island and ran a TV newsroom there before the fire. One of his former colleagues

lost her son in the tragedy. Station nightclub owner Jeffrey Dadarian also worked as a reporter

and for a time James had been his boss. And Brian Butler, the videographer who was filming the club

that night, also once worked for James. But that there were still so many unanswered questions about this hometown tragedy

led James to spend years reading court documents and interviewing people who were there that

night to try to piece together the facts of what happened.

Scott James is the author of Trial by Fire, a devastating tragedy, 100 Lives Lost, and a 15-year search for the

truth. Our conversation is next.

Who can I talk to?

...