PROVIDENCE -- Federal building safety investigators studying The Station
nightclub fire said today they are about halfway through their
investigation, but they need the public's help in gathering information
about materials in the building.
The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology
is trying to determine what caused the one-story, wooden building that housed
West Warwick club to become a deadly trap when a fire tore through it on
Feb. 20.
The fire started when a band's pyrotechnics ignited flammable foam
placed around the stage as soundproofing. One hundred people died from
the fire, and about 200 more were injured, making it the worst blaze in
Rhode Island's history.
The goal is to recommend improvements in the way buildings are designed,
constructed, maintained and used. The NIST does not assign blame for
building disasters.
"When we complete this effort, we want to be able to provide the kind of
recommendations that could prevent this kind of tragedy from being
repeated in other communities around the United States in the years to
come," said James Hill, acting director of NIST's Building and Fire
Research Laboratory.
It provided the update of its investigation this morning at a news
conference at the Providence Marriott.
As part of its probe, the NIST reconstructed the nightclub's stage area
and conducted fire tests -- both with and without sprinklers. The club
did not have a sprinkler system.
In the test without sprinklers, flames spread along the foam on the wall
and a flashover, in which everything combustible ignites, occurred in
about 1 minute, 10 seconds. Thick, black smoke filled the test area in
about 1 minute, 30 seconds.
When sprinklers were used, the flames and smoke were visibly reduced,
said Bill Grosshandler, who is leading the NIST's investigation of The
Station fire.
But, he added, "the temperature, gas concentration, and heat release
data need to be analyzed before a determination can be made on how long
the conditions in the room would have remained survivable."
The NIST is examining everything from the building's exits and materials
on its walls to how people moved as they evacuated and emergency
personnel's response time.
As part of its investigation, the NIST also established a partial floor
plan of the club, mapping the location of vents, doors, windows and
including details about ceiling height. Investigators also developed a
preliminary computer simulation of the fire.
But they are hoping fire survivors, club employees, previous patrons or
anyone with information about the club and the materials used in the
building will come forward.
"The ceiling tiles, paneling on the walls, and the type of foam can have
a big influence on the fire spread," said Grosshandler. "We are
specifically asking the public for information on the actual foam
installed since its burning behavior is a critical piece of information
that feeds into our computer simulations."
The NIST has asked the Attorney General's Office for information but has
not received it due to the state's ongoing criminal investigation into
the fire.
The NIST has the authority to conduct its investigation under the
National Construction Safety Team Act, which went into effect in October
2002.
The agency makes recommendations for changes to building codes,
standards and practices but has no regulatory authority. The results of
its investigation cannot be used as evidence in any criminal case or
lawsuit.
Anyone with information on the fire can call a toll-free, anonymous tip
line, at (877)-451-8001, e-mail the NIST at NCST@nist.gov or write the
team at: NCST Rhode Island Investigation, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8660, Gaithersburg, MD
208899-8660.
The team also is conducting a similar investigation into the Sept. 11,
2001, collapse of the World Trade Center towers.
DIGITAL EXTRA: Find a link to the NIST's Web site on The Station
fire probe, a preliminary report issued in August, and Providence
Journal re-creations of the club's floor plan, a foam-fire test and more
at:
http://projo.com/extra/2003/stationfire/
