I remember watching this shortly after it happened. It's very creepy watching the opening moments of the video with the realization that most of those on camera (up front) would not survive. 100 people perished.
The Station Night Club Fire (GRAPHIC) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pXYKQYOXX8#)
Coincidentally, the local news video crew was there to do a report on fire safety.
This tragedy reminded me of a concert I attended in the summer of 1979 in Houston. The headliner was Aerosmith at The Summit arena, a basketball and hockey stadium that regularly hosted rock concerts. I along with my friends had purchased a "festival seating" ticket. I found out when I arrived that festival seating was entrance to the floor of the arena...no chairs, just the floor. The doors were closed when we arrived about two hours before the show. Because there were no reserved seats on the floor the crowd pressed very hard against the entry points. We were among the ones at the very front of the crowd and the pressure was intense. It was very bad for the last thirty minutes until the doors opened. Then it was a total free-for-all across the entry way and down into the arena. After the show started the crowd on the floor began surging toward the stage and it wasn't long before everyone in the front third of the floor was tightly packed together. I remember suddenly realizing that my feet were no longer touching the floor and that I was moving at the whim of the crowd. It took over a half hour of constant struggle to move to freedom at the rear of the crowd pressing toward the stage.
I swore after that experience that I would never buy a "festival seating" ticket again. It was only a few months later that the Cincinnati tragedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_The_Who_concert_disaster) took place...
THE WHO CINCINNATI 1979 CONCERT TRAGEDY RAW NEWS FOOTAGE.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM4DvWOjvHs#)
1979 "In the News" Cinncinatti Who Concert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFzXzBQCzjc#)
Lessons learned.