A TV cameraman who caught the shocking images of the nightclub inferno said yesterday scores of panicked people were smashing windows in order to escape the raging blaze.
“People were trying to help others and people were smashing out windows and people were pulling on people,” said Brian Butler, who works for WPRI-TV, a Fox affiliate in Providence, R.I.
“Nobody cared how many cuts they got,” he said. “Nobody cared about the bruises or the burns.”
Butler, who was not hurt in the deadly fire, was sent to the tiny club called The Station on Thursday night so he could research nightclub safety following the deaths of 21 people Monday in a stampede at a Chicago club.
Butler first shot a few images of people dancing and then, the main attraction, Great White, started its set with a fusillade of giant pyrotechnic sparklers and fireworks from the stage. That’s when flames suddenly snaked up the walls of the club, slithering across the ceiling above the crowd.
Butler said many revelers thought it was part of the act, but began to panic when the fire spread quickly through the low-ceilinged building, devouring the air with thick, black smoke.
That’s when the stampede for the exits started.
“They just wanted out of the building,” Butler said.
Butler said the crowd pushed harder towards the front door – many screaming “This way!” and “Get out!”
Panic tore through the room and chaos took over. Some stumbled and fell. Others tried in vain to leap over bodies, but crashed on top of others.
Although the flames spread quickly, Butler kept shooting video – capturing images of people yelling for help and grisly shots of the back door that showed blinding black smoke and flames rolling through the doorway.
The entire club was engulfed in flames within minutes but Butler managed to escape.
His video images from the inferno were aired repeatedly around the world throughout the day – giving millions a searing inside glimpse of one of the worst club fires in history.