Brother Was A Hero

In an arranged call through a mutual friend, I spoke with Melissa Plant about the Station fire. We spoke for about 30 minutes. The first thing I asked was, "Did you know Mike?" She said yes. Not well enough that they spent time hanging around, but well enough that they would both recognize each other and say, "Hi." She said she frequented the events that he hosted.

On the night of the fire, she was delivering food across the street from The Station at about 11 PM. She wanted to see who was playing at the club that night and walked across the street to have a look. As she did so, she noticed flashes...as if someone were welding. As she approached the building, a group of people were rushing out. She had been to the Station many times and was friendly with the workers there. Familiar with the club, she ran to the stage door (right-side). These are her recollections:

"As I got to the door there was a lot of yelling. The band members were being pushed out, but were trying to get back in. I saw the Doctor (Mike) at the door yanking and pulling people out as they approached the door. He was directing everyone. He was clearly in control as if he were a firefighter or policeman. I saw him pull maybe 25 to 35 people out...all the time shouting. "Come this way...this way!" Some people tried to get back in and he would say "Take this person away and hold them." I could not believe how he was handling it, as if he were trained....He was definitely the leader. He gave me a sense that whatever was going on at that door, he was going to handle it. He was at the door the whole time...coughing pretty bad. It all lasted maybe a minute. He called out things like, "Anybody in there!", as he stood by the door with smoke billowing [out]. The flow of people slowed quickly to none. I saw Mike looking around as if he were looking for someone. I saw him cough and then take a big breath and go back in the door.

"I'm not embellishing anything to make you feel better, this is what I saw. I have met with several others that were right there [that night] and their story is exactly the same. I don't know why he went back in, but I can tell you that the smoke definitely overcame him. I ran to the front door for a couple of seconds. I remember thinking that the area is under control because the Doc is taking care of it. When I came back to the stage door I have to tell you that there were no sounds coming from inside. No calling out or screaming. Seconds later the roof collapsed and the firefighters pushed everyone back.

" I do not believe he suffered... I can tell he was [being] weakened by the smoke [from] standing at the door. I don't want you to think I am saying any of this to make you feel better. This is what happened."

I am pleased to be able to share this account. I am filled with pride just to have called him a "friend" and it is an enormous honor to call him "Brother".

Dan Belhumeur
MTSND