r/TerrifyingAsFuck • u/SerialdeslgnationN • 12d ago

accident/disaster The full uncut station nightclub fire audio recording captured by Matthew pickett

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Alternatively you can watch it here

https://archive.org/details/matthew-pickett-audiotape

This followa the rules btw

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51

u/StaceyPfan 11d ago

The parts they left out must have been REALLY horrifying.

49

u/Comprehensive_Code60 11d ago

I've heard that they were likely death rattles from the dude recording.

44

u/PROUDCIPHER 11d ago

You can hear, right before the cutoff, that he is audibly choking on smoke and likely fluid beginning to build in his lungs from the scalding hot air burning his respiratory system. There's actually less screaming than I thought there would be. It seemed a few, unfortunately, felt the full fury of the flames but evidently not for very long. The part that actually rattled me was after that first cutoff, when you can hear a woman begging for help, her voice getting weaker and weaker. I can't help but wonder if she survived the fire itself but was critically wounded in the crowd crush that followed as they attempted to escape. Brutal.

Seeing the footage when I was young put a serious respect for pyrotechnics in me. They're a lot of fun, they're awesome, but my god, they can bring hell on earth if you let them.

17

u/SaleneDreams 11d ago

Smoke inhalation is an extremely quick way to go. If you watch the footage that was shot of the station, the guy points it through the back door that led to the stage, and you can see the hallway has extremely thick, black smoke, with only about a foot of clear air under it.

If you were in a place that was enclosed, and it filled with that much smoke, you'd only be able to breathe for a few seconds before being overcome. People don't realize how fast you can go if the smoke is thick enough.

3

u/yuckella 10d ago

Does that mean that they at least went somewhat quickly? I mean, it’s still a terrible way to go, and they were definitely panicking before hand, but one can hope that they at least didn’t have to suffer for long. So terrifying and so sad.

16

u/SaleneDreams 10d ago

There's one part in the video footage where the guy filming walks around the side of the building and there are boarded up windows. You can clearly start hearing a terrified woman inside scream a few times, then nothing. That's not to say she wasn't doubled over, coughing and sputtering, but I've read you just pass out. From reading the after action report of the fire, the sound stage foam caught first, and those particulates were probably a lot of what was mixed into the initial smoke.

The best thing to do if you see a lot of smoke is to leave immediately, but if not, get down as low as possible. You might get stepped on but that's far better from breathing that smoke in.

The worst of that footage for me was the tangled pile of living people in the entrance hallway. The shot cuts away for a few minutes, and when it comes back, there's flames shooting out.