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For Some GREAT WHITE Fans, Haunting Memories Remain

July 7, 2003

James Finlaw of The Herald News reports that on the night of Feb. 20, Andrew Paskowski, Jim Gooden and two friends entered The Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island to hang out and watch the rock band GREAT WHITE perform. Gooden never came out.

"It was tough losing my friend Jim, but I can't do anything about it. That's life," said Paskowski solemnly.

Paskowski was in the hospital, his face swollen beyond recognition, and his severely burned hands wrapped in protective gauze and Styrofoam, when he finally learned of his friend's fate.

"The second or third day (after the fire),one of his friends came to the hospital to see me and said you're a man, you're an adult, Jim didn't make it. That hurt pretty bad," recalled Paskowski.

Paskowski can vividly recall nearly every detail of that night, and his escape from the conflagration. But there are certain moments that stand out, and will be forever frozen in his mind.

He remembers standing in the back of the room where the band was set to perform, while his friends were up closer to the stage. He watched as the pyrotechnics the band fired off as the act began ignited a fire on the wall behind the stage. In seconds, he knew the situation was dire, and moved forward to try to locate his friends.

That's when he witnessed a sight that has come to symbolize, in his mind, all the sadness and futility of the tragedy.

"A bouncer is on the stage and the flames are probably not even a foot behind him and he's got a cup of water, saying fuck, fuck, throwing a cup of water on it," said Paskowski.

"That's one visual image I'll never get out of my head," he said. "I believe he perished." Read more.

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