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Agency Launches Probe in R.I. Club Fire
By BRIAN CAROVILLANO
Associated Press Writer
A new federal agency formed to look into building safety announced Thursday it was launching a formal probe into the nightclub fire that killed 97 people last week.
The National Construction Safety Team said it will look into the conditions at The Station nightclub before the fire, including the location of windows and doors, the number of patrons, and the type of construction materials.
The team - created last year to study building disasters the way the National Transportation Safety Board looks into air crashes - will also examine whether lives could have been saved if the club had had an automatic sprinkler system.
The team would likely use its findings to make recommendations to fire safety groups for improvements in building codes, said spokesman Michael Newman. Two officials from the team had already visited the burned ruins of the nightclub over the weekend.
Fire rapidly engulfed the West Warwick nightclub last Thursday night after the heavy metal band Great White set off a pyrotechnic display.
A separate probe into the tragedy was launched by a grand jury. Their work began behind closed doors at a National Guard training center in East Greenwich on Wednesday, the same day family members began burying their loved ones.
After sifting through the conflicting versions of what happened, the grand jury will decide whether anyone should be held responsible.
Most of the first grand jury session was devoted to preliminary talks between prosecutors and lawyers for Great White, according to two sources close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Lt. Col. Mike McNamara, a spokesman for the National Guard, told The Associated Press on Thursday that no grand jury proceedings were being held at the center that day, but the panel was expected to return Friday.
Two members of Great White went to the center where the panel was meeting but did not testify Wednesday. A legal source told The Associated Press that the band members were not immediately prepared to testify, but may be ready as soon as Friday.
Prosecutors were expected to spend Thursday in talks with lawyers for grand jury witnesses, another source familiar with the investigation said.
Separately, the National Fire Protection Association said it has called for an immediate meeting of its top building code writers to review safety issues for buildings where large groups of people assemble.
The nightclub's soundproofing is part of the criminal probe, Gov. Don Carcieri said Wednesday. Investigators are trying to determine whether the club improperly used an inexpensive and highly flammable material.
Lead singer Jack Russell told WHJJ-AM radio the fire has been "the most horrible experience" of his life. Guitarist Mark Kendall said the tragedy has devastated the band members: "The loss of all the people - I mean, it's shocking. It numbs you."
The band has said it received approval to use special effects, but the two brothers who own the club, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, have denied they gave permission.
Legal experts and fire investigators said the Derderians, along with band members, could be indicted on such state charges as involuntary manslaughter or second-degree murder.
Edward C. Roy Jr., former president of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he would advise both the club owners and the band members to invoke their Fifth Amendment right to refuse to testify.
"It's such a catastrophic loss of life. Realistically, with 97 deaths, no lawyer is going let a client talk to law enforcement," Roy said.
About 60 people remained hospitalized Thursday, including 36 in critical condition. All but four of the 97 bodies have been identified.
Funerals for three of the victims were held Wednesday.
At a service for 18-year-old Nicholas O'Neill of Pawtucket, he was recalled as an aspiring musician who played guitar in a band that included two of his brothers, and wrote many of the songs. His father, David Kane, joked: "When I saw all the people here, the huge crowd, I heard Nicky whispering to me, 'We should charge a cover.'"
More than 200 grief-stricken friends and relatives said goodbye to victim Dennis Smith, 36, who had gone to the concert at The Station because a friend had an extra ticket. A third victim, 38-year-old Carlos Pimental, was remembered in a private Mass.
The Derderians were in the process of selling the nightclub when the fire broke out; just hours before, two men, Michael O'Connor and Daniel Gormley, filed papers with the state forming a company to run it.
The Station was also caught up in the contentious divorce of Michael Derderian, whose finances were becoming increasingly precarious, according to court records. Divorce records show Heather Derderian tried to force her husband to sell the club last year; the records also show his mounting debts, including $28,000 owed to the Internal Revenue Service.
Jeffrey Pine, an attorney for Jeffrey Derderian, said there was no indication the brothers' finances were a focus of the criminal investigation. Michael Derderian's divorce became final Wednesday.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. |
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CHAT ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]