An Immediate Lesson from the Horror and Tragedy in Rhode Island

JeffHead.com ^ | February 21, 2003 | Jeff Head

[Jeff Head]

We live in very disturbing and dangerous times. The individual who wrote this account was observant of their surroundings and acted upon those observations sensibly and immediately when danger was apparent rather than waiting, dallying or seeking to enjoy himself further. It saved this person's life as they so directly and emotionally related.

Our society faces similar dangerous circumstances. We must remain vigilant and observant or, like the poor souls in this very real, very horrific event, we as a whole will be burned, terribly disfigured and possibly destroyed. We cannot remain dead and unobservant of what goes on around us in these times ... we cannot fail to act sensibly and quickly when we see danger ... either as individuals or as a society. The Mid-East and the Far-East represent terrible danger right now to us all here in 2003, as surely as those initial flames climbing the walls represented great and emminent danger to those people in the Night Club in RHode Island.

Will we remain unobservant? Will we laugh at the danger somehow thinking it is a "part of the show"? Will we continue to allow the danger to grow both there abroad and right here at home through pourous borders, allowing most of production to be unwisely shipped off-shore and either remaining ignorant to what we face or ignoring it?

If we do, we will be in grave danger of being terribly hurt, maimed or destroyed by the threat that quickly grows around us.

Let us learn the lesson illustrated by this senseless and horrific tragedy before an even greater one engulfs us all. As the individual who was eye-witness to the carnage, but escaped alive ... let us be observant, let us act sensibly but quickly ... and let's try and help as many others as we can to escape the looming flames.

Jeff Head
February 21, 2003, Emmett, Idaho
Engineering Consultant and Author
The Dragon's Fury Series
A Tale of the potentially emminent World War III

[Jeff Head]

When I read this individual's horrific eye-witness account ... I could not stop thinking of the similarities to the dangers we all face ... so I post this to you all to relieve myself of the burden pressing on my mind over this.

Pardon me if it is too graphic, or too soon ... but I had to relate it and get it down on "paper".

[EternalVigilance]

Very apt analogy, my friend.

[harpseal]

There is a course conducted for some of the high school students in the area whereby they learn some basic personal security strategies including in every public place the first thing one should look for is all the exits. They also learn about staying away from dangerous places etc. There are a couple of yound people from Westbrook, CT who took such a personal security class combined with shoot don't shoot training that made it out unbirned from one of the side exits.

[Ciexyz]

Most moving commentary. And I agree with your observations about the perils all around us. It's like we're standing on the brink. But here on FR, at least we have our eyes opened.

May God be with the families of those victims.

[harpseal]

Unbirned = unburned

[skr]

Thank you for posting this. May those who escaped and tried to help be blessed with peace.

[harpseal]

Clearly this is a very relevant thread and it is neither too soon nor inappropriate. Warwick, RI is less than an hour away by I 95. Some Great White fans from teh local area were at this night club. They made it out uninjured getting out the kitchen exit.

[Jeff Head]

Your screen name says it all with regards to the point of the analogy.

The person giving the account was vigilant ... and tried to awaken some vigilance in others as he escaped ... and then vigilantly tried to help those who waited too lonmg.

Would that we all could do the same ... both individually and as a society.

[Arkinsaw]

True enough. A lot of those people probably stayed where they were for a few more seconds because in the back of their mind they thought that someone in authority would take care of the problem, that someone in charge would put out the fire and it would be a laugh. I'm sure, those that stood there could not imagine that they were on their own.

[Ciexyz]

I'm forwarding this page to my circle of Net friends.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Sounded like the whole joint was a tinderbox. Old construction?

[Kevin Curry]

There quickly comes a point called flashover in the life of a fire spreading inside a structure. Deadly, highly combustible gases build up from partial burning, and these gases soon fill the entire structure. Suddenly the pent-up heat ignites the gases with a whoosh and the fire is out of control--especially in an old wooden structure as this apparently was.

The structure was rapidly building toward flashover the moment the flames were spotted on the back wall. There was no time to spare at that point.

[Jeff Head]

Such education, if taken to heart saves lives ... and particularly the lives of those who received and took to heart that training/education/counsel.

It's application in an emergency such as this are clear ... its application in many other, less-obvious areas of life are legion.

Best to you my friend.

[eddie willers]

Bump

[Jeff Head]

I had to share it ... as I read the main thread at post 303 and saw this account ... it was like a fountain welling up inside me.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And... if they were messing around with fireworks in a tinderbox why didn't the stage crew at least have fire extinguishers and a water hose ready. Duuuuuuuuuuumb.

[Lady GOP]

We cannot remain dead and unobservant of what goes on around us in these times ... we cannot fail to act sensibly and quickly when we see danger ... either as individuals or as a society.

Good post Jeff and very much agree with your observations.

[Jeff Head]

There was no time to spare at that point.

Amen ... and this observant individual recognized it and acted.

There is little time to spare on the world stage right now and we must act with the same sense and urgency.

[Jeff Head]

I'm sure, those that stood there could not imagine that they were on their own.

That they were ... and they had been conditioned to hesitate ... or worse, to not recognize the situation when it was painfully and immediately upon them.

Thus the terrible and horrific lesson for us all.