R.I. nightclub fire victims remembered

WEST WARWICK, R.I., Feb. 18 (UPI) —

More than 200 friends, family and survivors gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of a Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people.

Flowers in hand and bundled against the cold, the crowd formed Sunday at the site of the former Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., WPRI-TV, Providence, R.I., reported.

The fire began about 11 p.m., Feb. 20, 2003, in the club when pyrotechnics set off by the band Great White ignited flammable foam used to soundproof the building.

The names of all 100 of the people who died in the fire were read aloud at Sunday’s ceremony followed by 100 seconds of silence.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said the time hasn’t completely faded the grief family and friends feel for those who died.

"I know that even 10 years on, your grief can sometimes feel as fresh as it the first time you heard the awful news," he said.

Chafee thanked businessman Raymond Villanova for donating the site to the Station Fire Memorial Foundation for a permanent memorial, The Providence (R.I.) Journal reported.

"We now have a dedicated place, a consecrated place," he said.

Rick Moreau, whose 21-year-old daughter, Leigh Ann, was killed in the fire, said the site "is holy ground for us."