"I dimly remember the media coverage of the Station Nightclub fire back in the winter of 2003. As a former EMT, such stories often catch my attention, leaving me wondering at the circumstances that cause such disasters. While my personal experiences are more related to dealing with the injured survivors, I have more than enough firefighter friends to fully appreciate the challenges presented by the fire itself and the incredible number of lives it took.

This book is an attempt to tell the whole story of the Station Nightclub fire, from the history of the building to the settlement of the legal actions that arose from the fire. The incredible amount of research required to compile this account is evident in the level of details (not to mention the nearly 40 pages of notes), but this isn’t a dry technical report. Instead, the author has done an incredible job of bringing the story to life, evoking a wide range of emotions, from outrage at the gross disregard for safety that resulted from greed, to admiration for the strength and courage of any number of survivors.

This book can be viewed as three parts. The first five chapters set the stage, describing the nightclub and it history. We learn about the installation of inappropriate sound-proofing materials, the physical layout of the building and the questionable results of any number of fire and safety inspections. Chapters 6-18 deal with the events immediately leading up to the Great White concert of February 20, 2003 and the fire itself. We learn the stories of some of the victims and how they came to be in the building that night. Barylick pulls no punches as he graphically describes the horror of the fire as it almost literally explodes through the building. It is almost impossible to imagine how quickly this fire spread, killing most of its victims within just a couple of minutes of ignition. The remainder of the book describes the aftermath: Identifying the victims, the investigations and the criminal and civil litigations that attempted to resolve the legal responsibilities for this tragedy.

As with any disaster of this nature, there are lessons to be learned. In this case, it appears that an unfortunately confluence of circumstances combined to create an incredible deadly fire. It seems likely that the removal of any of the factors (even just one) might have prevented the tragedy, or at least greatly minimized its impact. The author’s evaluation of the possible lessons to be learned is both insightful and heartfelt. This book should serve as a cautionary tale of the potential consequences when safety takes a backseat to greed and when the public servants tasked with enforcing safety rules fail to properly do their jobs.
"