In 2003, John Bernardo worked occasional nights as a DJ in bars throughout the state, hired to bring in people who wanted to dance and buy drinks.
After Feb. 20, 2003, the night 100 people — including two of his friends — were killed and more than 200 injured, many severely, in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, that all changed.
“The business really dropped off after that,” he said. “Entertainment nights at bars and grills, they said, ‘It ain’t worth it.’”
For a DJ that was bad news, but from the perspective of his day job as an electrical safety engineer, he said it was a long time coming. Today, Bernardo is the president of the Safety Association of Rhode Island and the owner of his own building-safety consulting company. He said the changes in the state’s fire code enacted after the Station tragedy turned Rhode Island’s fire safety rules from arcane and confusing to a modern code that was more easily understood and enforced.