Watching this thing over the weekend went from "wow, that's too bad" to "damn, that's horrible" to "holy shit, it's the fifth worst fire disaster in US history". Rhode Island, being what it is, countless people will know someone affected by the tragedy. A girl who worked in baby daughter's pediatrician's office was killed. A close friend of my brother-in-law, an EMT, was on the scene. As a teenager, my wife (and hundreds of others, for years) used to stay up late listening to "The Doctor" Mike Gonsalves' metal show on HJY.

Two quotes are sticking in my head as I follow the story:

The first was Jack Russell from Great White saying, "We're not Kiss". No kidding. I heard a reporter say that the girl from my daughter's pediatrician's office wasn't really a fan of Great White, but was just there to have a good time with friends. I suspect that's the case for a lot of people that night. These guys had no business putting on a fireworks display. They should've just played some songs and left, nobody needs a big stage show from a band like that in 2003. They aren't Kiss, never were and this isn't 1988.

The other quote that really hits me is a simple statement by Governor Carcieri (and probably reiterated by many others): "This didn't need to happen."

No it didn't. At all.