Posted 3:45 p.m.
PROVIDENCE -- One of the lead lawyers representing victims of The Station
nightclub fire has issued a subpoena to the state's fire marshal asking
him to produce all reports of inspections done at the site of the former
club.
The subpoena issued by Max Wistow, an interim lead counsel for the fire
victims and their families, orders Fire Marshal Irving J. Owens to
appear with the inspection reports at Wistow's Weybosset Street law
office the morning of Tuesday, July 29.
Wistow wants Owens to produce all fire inspection reports done at the
211 Cowesett Ave., West Warwick, site of The Station over the 50-plus
years that a building stood there, not just during the relatively few
years it was used as a nightclub.
Wistow is also asking Owens to produce any reports in the possession of
the state fire marshal's office relating to the Feb. 20 fire, which
killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. The building was
destroyed.
Wistow is issuing the subpoenas in an effort to collect information that
he and other victims' lawyers can use to help them decide who should be
sued in connection with the nightclub fire. He and lawyer Mark Mandell
are court-appointed interim lead counsel for the fire victims.
Owens has already been named as a defendant in civil lawsuits filed by
other victims' lawyers in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The fire at The Station erupted after the rock band Great White set off
pyrotechnics which ignited highly flammable packing foam that had been
installed by the club's owners as soundproofing.
Records released by the town thus far show that for three consecutive
years, West Warwick inspectors failed to make note of the packing foam
affixed to the club walls. The people who do inspections for their local
fire departments are deputized by Owens -- and are considered assistant
deputy state fire inspectors -- but do not work directly for him.
Lawyers for victims who have already sued Owens allege that the State of
Rhode Island, through Owens, had a duty to properly train all fire
inspectors in the state's 39 cities and towns and failed to do so.
The lawsuits also allege that the state did not hire enough fire
inspectors to make periodic inspections; allowed The Station to store
highly toxic materials on its premises; and permitted "unsafe numbers of
people on the premises during the performance'' by Great White on Feb.
20.
Among the other allegations are that Owens and the state failed to
require sprinklers at The Station and that they should have known that
pyrotechnics were being used at The Station and should have prevented
such use.
Asked what he hopes to gain by subpoeaning inspection records in Owens's
possession, Wistow said: ``To see what extent they have anything
relating to inspections prior to The Station fire and what their
investigation showed relating to the fire.''
Wistow recently issued subpoenas to a host of West Warwick town
officials for municipal records. The town's lawyers have agreed to
voluntarily produce whatever records are in their possession at Wistow's
office this Wednesday.
Lawyers are hoping to use town documents to help them identify
contractors who worked on the wood-frame building during the past
half-century and to get fire inspection records kept by the town.
