On the evening of February 20, 2003, at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a fire broke out during the rock band Great White’s performance. The ensuing investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology concluded that a fire suppression system would have contained the fire sufficiently long enough for everyone to escape. In the end, 100 people died, and there were 230 non-fatal injuries, not to mention the incalculable and ongoing trauma to the friends and family of the victims. So when the principals of the Bombyx Center are looking for sympathy regarding the hardship of installing a sprinkler system by creating a media impression that the Northampton Fire Department is bullying them, it’s clear they are ignoring history.

Jack Tulloss

Belchertown

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