Digital Extra: The Station Fire

01:32 PM EDT on Thursday, July 22, 2004

By TRACY BRETON
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE -- A 70-count civil lawsuit was filed this morning in Superior Court on behalf of 226 people who died, lost loved ones or were injured in The Station nightclub fire -- by far the largest suit stemming from the worst blaze in the state's history.

The lawsuit names 46 defendants, including a Channel 12 cameraman who shot a video of the fast-moving fire and who is alleged to have blocked people from getting out of the club, and a West Warwick police officer who had a detail at the club that night and who, the plaintiffs allege, should have prevented the band from using pyrotechnics and clamped down on overcrowding.

Also named are two publicly-traded foam manufacturers, Leggett & Platt and Foamex International, and Lloyd's of London.

The 130-page suit was filed by a plaintiffs' steering committee of eight lawyers who said in a press release that they anticipated that the case would immediately be removed to the U.S. District Court by one or more defendants.

The defendants include the West Warwick nightclub's owners, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian; and the former tour manager for the rock band Great White, Daniel Biechele, who, as part of the band's opening act on Feb. 20, 2003, set off pyrotechnics that ignited highly flammable soundproofing foam in the nightclub, leading to 100 deaths and more than 200 injuries.

All three men are facing 200 counts of involuntary mansalughter in connection with the blaze -- the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history and the worst fire in the state's history.

``Our state has not before seen a tragedy of this magnitude and our courts have not, to my knowledge, been faced with a single civil action involving this number of individual plaintiffs, defendants and claims," said Max Wistow, a Providence lawyer who is co-chairman of the plaintiffs' steering committee.

Providence lawyer Mark Mandell, the other co-chair of the committee, said the lawsuit was ``the product of over a year's work preserving and analyzing evidence, engaging and working with experts, researching the facts and the law, and working closely with both the injured and the families of those who passed away.''

The lawsuit includes claims of surviving spouses, parents and 136 minor children of deceased or injured victims of the West Warwick fire.

Other defendants named in the suit include Anheuser-Busch, which is alleged to have contributed to overcrowding in the club by promoting the concert, where its Budweiser brand beer was to be sold, and McLaughlin & Moran, which is the company's exclusive distributing agent in Rhode Island.

Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc., was also named in the suit, also for the promotion of the concert by one its local radio stations, WHJY, Inc.

"WHJY, Inc. knew or should have known that the concert and band that it promoted was one that customarily utilized pyrotechnics and that Great White had repeatedly, openly and illegally used unlicensed pyrotechnics on its tour," the lawsuit said.

On the governmental level, the state of Rhode Island and its fire marshal, Irving J. Owens, are named as defendants. West Warwick fire inspector Denis P. Larocque is also listed. All are accused of negligence stemming from allegations of improper inspections of the club.

Several other lawsuits on behalf of families and survivors have been filed in U.S. District Court in Providence.

A U.S. District judge ruled in March that the civil suits stemming from the fire should be heard in federal court, rather than state.

Some plaintiffs and defendants had argued lawsuits should be heard in federal court because the cases involve parties from several states. But others, including those who filed the lawsuit today, said the fire was essentially a local disaster and lawsuits should be handled in state court.

The majority of the 100 people killed in the fire were from Rhode Island, though there were also victims from Massachusetts, Connecticut, California and Florida.

-- With Associated Press reports