For Russo and Kane, the years have taught them that time -- lots of time -- can sometimes gradually heal the emotional wounds.

It's "astounding pain and your entire life gets completely mangled," said Kane, who wrote a book after the fire called "41 Signs of Hope."

"Only through the grace of faith and hope can you mange to pull yourself out and live again to start anew, because the sun does come up the next day."

Russo also penned a book in the aftermath -- "From the Ashes, Surviving the Station Nightclub Fire."

"You can heal from it," she said. "It just takes time and patience and to know you're not alone."

John Barylick, an attorney who represented victims in wrongful death and personal injury cases arising from the fire, knows the pain well too.

"In coming days, Rhode Islanders will follow the unfolding news from Brazil with a sense of queasy deja vu -- the rising body counts, the victim identification process, the grieving families, and the assigning (and dodging) of blame," he said.

"If only they had learned from our tragedy."