GREAT WHITE Concert Fire: 26 Bodies Found In Rear Section Of Club

Paul Edward Parker and Edward Fitzpatrick of the Providence Journal are reporting that a diagram of The Station nightclub made public yesterday under court order shows 26 of those who died in the GREAT WHITE concert fire in February 2003 were found in a rear section of the club with no direct exits.

"Getting caught in dead ends is a traditional problem," said Jake Pauls, an expert in human behavior in fires. "That is classic that people would tend to be found in there."

Pauls said many of those found in dead ends at the opposite side of the club from the stage may have initially tried to use the front entrance, but found it blocked by the crowd. At that point, they may have turned from the crowd and sought another escape.

"That does look like an attempt to get as far away from the fire as possible and look for a way out, and that's reasonable behavior," said Pauls. "That would be an obvious direction to head, because it gets you furthest from the fire the quickest."

Unfortunately, their path also led into the storage room, the office or one of three restrooms, none of which had exit doors or windows that could be used as exits.

According to the record, 31 people were found in the entrance hallway leading from the main concert room to the front door; 9 others were found in the main concert room near the entrance to the hallway.

An additional 18 were in the "greenhouse" area off the main concert room, separated from the entrance hallway by a wall.

"People know that's very close to the entrance," said Pauls. "They might have been operating in total darkness . . . maybe they were confused whether they were on one side or the other." Read more (free registration required).