Station Nightclub Fire | No Exit | 2
American Scandal
Wondery
4.6 • 18.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 January 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the night of February 20, 2003, excitement fills the Station as the crowd eagerly awaits a performance by Jack Russell and Great White. But seconds into the show, sparks from a pyrotechnic display ignite the walls, unleashing a fire that spreads with terrifying speed.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Lindsay Graham, host of American Scandal. Our Back catalog has moved behind a paywall. |
| 0:05.9 | Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a Wondry Plus subscription. With Wondry |
| 0:11.0 | Plus, you get access to the full American Scandal archive, add free, plus early access to new seasons, |
| 0:17.0 | and more. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. A listener note, this episode |
| 0:22.7 | contains graphic descriptions of death and fire-related injuries and may not be suitable for a younger |
| 0:27.8 | audience. |
| 0:48.3 | Thank you. It's February 20th in West Warwick, Rhode Island, just after 11 p.m. |
| 0:54.8 | 38-year-old Fred Chrysostomy is inside the station nightclub standing just a few feet from stage. |
| 0:59.8 | He has one arm wrapped around his fiancé, Gina Russo, while his other hand grips a beer. |
| 1:04.9 | He smiles, soaking up the energy of the crowd packed in around him, and pleased with the way he's been able to turn this night around. Only half an hour ago, he was sitting in Russo's living |
| 1:10.2 | room mindlessly flipping through TV channels and bored out of his mind. |
| 1:14.5 | But now he feels a rush of excitement, as he's just moments away from seeing 80s metal band Great White live on stage. |
| 1:22.0 | The lights go dark, and the crowd roars. The show is about to begin. |
| 1:26.3 | And then, from somewhere in the darkness, a single |
| 1:29.0 | guitar chord rings out, and a wall of sparks shoots up from the foot of the stage, illuminating |
| 1:34.1 | the band. Lead singer Jack Russell steps forward, grabbing the mic with both hands. He belts out the |
| 1:40.6 | opening lyrics to Desert Moon, and the whole crowd shouts along with him. |
| 1:44.9 | It's an electric moment. But then Chrysostomy notices flames behind the stage. He taps |
| 1:51.6 | Rousseau's arm and points to the fire now crawling up the back wall. She looks back at him, |
| 1:57.2 | her eyes wide. No one else seems to notice. The band is still playing and the crowd |
| 2:02.4 | continues to dance and sing, and for a moment, Chrysostomy wonders if maybe this is part of the show. |
| 2:08.7 | But as he watches the flames race up the wall behind the drummer, growing larger and larger, |
... |
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