Five years ago

It's been five years since The Station Nightclub Fire claimed the lives of 100 Great White fans in Rhode Island. It was the 4th largest nightclub tragedy in U.S. History. On April 23, 1940 a fire killed 198 people at the Rhythm Night Club dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi. 492 were killed in a fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts on November 28, 1942. The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky was where 165 people lost their lives in a fire on May 28, 1977. And right here in our backyards, five years ago today, 100 people were killed in a blaze that ripped through The Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island in under three minutes flat.

I don't much care for dragging up the past, as it just the that...the past. And nothing anyone can ever do or say will change it. It's horrible. It's a tragedy. It shouldn't have happened. But it's a fact. And it could have been avoided.

So who do we blame? The courts told us to blame the nightclub owners. They told us to blame Great White's road manager. Some people claim we should blame the manufacturers who made the sound-proofing that caught fire. Others blame the fire marshall, who passed the nightclub's fire safety inspection just a couple months before. Some of the victims' families tell us to blame the band. Some people say we should blame God. The answer isn't clear.

I don't think it will ever be clear, because there is no answer. We can continue to place blame on people all we want. It still won't make this tragedy go away. It will not take back all the pain and suffering. It won't bring back those that lost their lives. Nor will it undo the injuries done to those that survived. The scars will be there forever. And as we all know, scars are daily reminders of the past.

The only reason I'm even mentioning this is because I came across an article on The Station Nightclub Fire somewhere on the internet this morning. I don't remember where or how, but I do know that it was about the five year anniversary of the tragedy. I read the article, and quite frankly, I was appalled. And it was one little paragraph that totally ticked me off. Apparently one woman who lost her daughter in the fire desecrated the cross of another victim.

Let me explain. A makeshift "memorial" was erected on the site of The Station. There were (and may still be) 100 crosses. One for each of the victims that died that night. One of the vctims was Ty Longley, the guitarist for Great White. This woman decided that Ty Longley killed her daughter because it was his bands fault that the fire occurred in the first place. So what did she do? She took down his cross and threw it in the woods. I'm sure this woman's daughter is rolling over in her grave.

So again, who do we blame for this tragedy? I still say that there's no answer. It was an accident, not an on-purpose. This is one of the reasons that the world has gone to shit. Because everyone is looking for a scapegoat. People need to blame someone. Hell, my family and I could do the same. We could blame The President for killing my cousin in Iraq. Sure, if it wasn't for The President, my cousin may still be alive. It is his fault that we went to Iraq in the first place. But, then again, my cousin is the one who decided to join the Marines post 9/11. So sure, it may be the bands/tour manager/club owners fault that the pyrotechnics were ignited. But, those people chose to go to the club that night. And believe me, I'm not blaming the victims in ANY WAY. I'm just saying....there is no one to blame. It was an accident. A terrible tragedy that should never have happened, for many reasons.

And why the hell does it take this kind of horror to set people straight? Why is it that people only change their ways after some one loses their life? Shouldn't we be taking care of the one thing that means the most right from the get go...our life? We only have one to live, so why not live it to the best of our ability? Live it the way it's meant to be lived. Know that your life effects so many people. The choices we make our not just for our own personal benefit. Like the saying goes....

To the world you may be one person. But to one person you may be the world.