Johnston Man's Son Featured in Station Fire Film

PBS is scheduled to air the documentary on Nick O'Neill's life and signs of hope after his death in the Station Nightclub Fire.

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…

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Station Fire Property Owner Donates Land for Memorial

Property transfer papers were filed at West Warwick Town Hall on Friday.

  According to the Associated Press, West Warwick property owner Ray Villanova has agreed to donate the site of The Station nightclub for use as a permanent memorial to the 100 people killed in the Feb. 2003 blaze. Villanova's lawyer, Dan McKiernan, filed papers at West Warwick Town Hall on Friday morning transferring the land to the Station Fire Memorial Foundation. The decision brings closure to the long-standing effort to secure the site of the tragedy by families of those killed. Dave Kane of Johnston, father of Nicholas O'Neill, the youngest Station Fire victim, had previously written a letter to JohnstonPatch opposing the "satellite" memorial in Warwick and repeating the call for the State of Rhode Island to try to take the property …

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No 'Satellite' Memorial to Station Fire

Johnston resident Dave Kane, father of the youngest victim of the Station Nightclub fire, reiterates his belief that the State of Rhode Island should use eminent domain to take ownership of the site.

  This weekend, Jody King announced the plans for a "satellite" Memorial for the Station Nightclub fire victims. This idea flies in the face of all that is proper and just. We don’t need another satellite memorial, we already have one hundred of them — we call them grave sites. Attempting to move the focus of this tragedy to a different location is a giant step away from what has now become the most important and only remaining goal of the Station fire victim’s families.   [Past Coverage: Loved Ones Observe Ninth Station Fire Memorial Service] This goal is to have a legitimate and permanent reminder of what happens when fire inspectors, elected officials and judicial appointees, engulfed in corruption and incompetence, choose to turn their…

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Op-Ed: Nine Years Since The Station Fire — Now What?

Johnston resident Dave Kane writes that, after all of the other insults suffered by families of the Station Nightclub Fire victims, failure to turn the site into a permanent memorial would be another disappointment.

Nine Years — Now What? Feb. 20 of this year will mark the ninth anniversary of the Station Nightclub fire, the fourth-largest nightclub fire in America’s history. Unfortunately, this date will also mark a milestone in the ongoing saga that has included the most egregious series of injustices, corruption and failure this state has ever known. Over the 3,285 days since the fire, Rhode Island citizens have been witness to a unique and disturbing pasquinade, which has included a pseudo-prosecution by a stunningly incompetent Attorney General who showed during his entire tenure that he was less a court officer, and more a court jester. His prosecutorial fiasco allowed at least one of those who should have been charged to not only avoid arrest …

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Joseph Hutnak

5:15 pm on Monday, February 13, 2012

@Jenn and Susan: Thanks for offering your perspectives on this issue. As Dave wrote in his piece, whatever decision is finally made should honor those lost in the blaze — and allow their families to find peace.   more ›

Update: Station Fire Memorial, '41' Documentary Set For This Afternoon

The ninth annual memorial of the Station Nightclub Fire is scheduled for 1 p.m. today, while the documentary about Nick O'Neill is set to air at 2 p.m. on statewide cable TV.

A 2007 documentary about Nick O'Neill, the youngest victim of the Station Nightclub Fire, is scheduled to air on statewide Interconnect Channel 13 at 2 p.m., one hour after the ninth annual Station Fire Memorial Service, to be held at the site of the fire in West Warwick. O'Neill's father, Johnston resident Dave Kane, described the film in a recent email message as "the story of a beautiful life cut short, with the saga of a community in mourning and a family finding its way out of the darkness." The 2003 blaze at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick claimed 100 lives; O'Neill was just 18 when he died. Pamela Gruttadauria, of Johnston, is listed as the 100th person who passed away following the blaze. The former director of the Station …

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EVENT OF THE DAY: An Inspiring Story

Dave Kane, who lost a son in the 2003 Station Nightclub Fire, presents "41 Signs of Hope" tonight at Mohr Library.

The Mohr Library hosts the presentation Dave Kane: 41 Signs of Hope, tonight from 6:30 pm. until 8 p.m.  Kane's son, Nicholas O'Neill, died in the Station Nightclib Fire in 2003. Following the tragedy, in which 100 people died and some 400 were injured, Kane found 41 signs that showed him Nicholas was not truly "lost." Now a Johnston resident, Kane shares his story of loss and hope, which he has also compiled into a book of the same name. Find a brief excerpt from 41 Signs of Hope at this website. For more details contact the library at 401-231-4980 or visit: Mohr Calendar.

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ProJo: 'Insult' To Station Fire Victims Won't Air

Johnston resident Dave Kane issued a statement calling a joke by actor Steve-O at the Charlie Sheen roast 'an insult' to victims of the Station Nightclub Fire.