Johnston Man's Son Featured in Station Fire Film

Today, on the 10th anniversary of The Station nightclub fire, RI PBS will air "41", a documentary about Nick O'Neill, the youngest victim.

The tragedy caused by a pyrotechnic-triggered fire in 2003 lingers in the hearts of many Rhode Islanders. It killed 100 people, including Nick, son of Johnston resident Dave Kane, and injured many more.

'41' tells the story of Nick's prolific life, and the signs of hope experienced by family, friends and strangers after his death, including during a performance of his one-act play, "They Walk Among Us," at Stadium Theatre the year after the fire. The play, written a year before O'Neil's death, is about teenagers who have died and become angels, one of them based on Nick himself, according to 41themovie.com.

One of the stories not in the documentary took place during the filming of the play at Stadium Theatre, said director Christian de Rezendes. He said a few days before the performance, during a dress rehearsal, "I kept noticing a cloud of something hover over next to the seats," he said, to the left as he faced the stage. When he walked closer to check out the section of seats, he saw the plaque dedicated to Nick, "This seat in memory of Nick O'Neill," on the seat in the fourth row, first seat in, or '41'. 

The documentary by de Rezendes and Christian O’Neill (Nick's older brother) airs on RI PBS at 8 p.m. on Cox 808 and Verizon Fios 478 (If you're tuning in with an antenna, on Learn 36.2). In Massachusetts, you can find the program on Comcast 294 and 312. This extended Director's Cut includes additional footage and storytelling shown for the first time on Rhode Island PBS. A filming of "They Walk Among Us" will air after the documentary at 10 p.m.